The Dragon Warriors
by NinjaofLightning
Summary: After the defeat of the Golden Master by Zane, the Ninja are celebrated as heroes in Ninjago while they mourn the loss of the Ice Ninja. Meanwhile, a new threat, seeing Ninjago as weak from the Nindroid invasion, attacks. With the team already divided over Nya's choice, they have a little chance of stopping their enemy from destroying Ninjago. AU. INDEFINITE HIATUS.
1. One

**Hello, ninjas and kunoichi (is that the plural? Leave a review for the correct plural if you know it), it's Jay! (Not the Master of Spinjitzu, unfortunately.) People said that I should write more, so I decided I would follow up on _Just for a Few Moments_. I didn't add chapters to that story because I wanted it to be able to be viewed as a one-shot as well as a prologue or chapter one to this tale. **

**So anyway, this begins right after _Just for a Few Moments, _then jumps straight to after the Overlord's demise in the next chapter. **

**Enjoy this first chapter! (Or second, depending...) **

* * *

At first Nya didn't know where she was. The room around her was unfamiliar, the bed she was laying in, and the arms wrapped around her as well. For a moment, she was wide-eyed, but then she remembered.

_Jay. _

She had found him in the ninja's room, tearing up over her. Nya winced once more at that thought. She didn't want to the be a cause for any heartache or trouble to anyone. Especially her favorite ninja. So she had decided to be with him, just for a little while. She supposed that they must have fallen asleep.

Nya smiled and pressed her head into the blue ninja's shoulder. "Good morning," she murmured, closing her eyes. She felt his lips press into her head.

"Good morning," he replied softly. "I guess we fell asleep."

"Yeah," Nya sighed happily. "I don't mind."

_I mean that, don't I? _

Nya wound her arms around his neck and opened her eyes. His loving blue ones were locked with her own. Jay smiled and hugged her tightly.

_Yes, I do. Cole is a crush, and I have feelings for him, but Jay is the one I want by my side forever. I've made my choice. _

"Where are the others?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.

"I don't know," Jay said, shrugging while running a hand through his hair. "I don't think they came in here."

"I'm glad they didn't," she admitted. "It's nice in here, without those three. Just you, and me..." She saw Jay grin widely.

"Really?" He seemed stunned, but he was happy. And so was she.

"Really." She pulled him closer and kissed him. He blinked a few times before responding, and they held it for a minute, before the two of them broke away.

"What time is it?" he said, glancing around the room. She sat up, one hand on his shoulder.

"Whatever," she said. "I just hope we aren't late for anything."

"I don't think so. I mean, the sun isn't to high in the sky, so it's still morning," the blue ninja reasoned, slipping out of the covers that he had pulled over them last night. "I'm hungry."

"So am I," Nya replied as he stepped away from the bed and began straightening his blue ninja robes. The lightning patterns flashed gold-and-silver as the light hit them.

"Since we're the first ones up, we can make breakfast," he said, reaching a hand to help her up. She took it and got to her feet. Nya glanced down at her clothes: the red fabric was wrinkled from not changing out of them, but otherwise, they were fine.

"Let's get washed up a little, then go," she decided, walking towards the door. He nodded.

"Just meet in the kitchen!" he reminded her brightly. She laughed.

"I will."

Nya quickly straightened out her clothes and brushed her teeth, then slipped out of her room and into the hallway that led into the kitchen. Before she continued on through the belowdecks of the _Destiny's Bounty_, she poked her head into the ninja's room. It was deserted, no signs of life besides the ruffled sheets and pillows on Jay's bed.

_Good, _Nya thought, sighing with relief. _No one else was there. _Not that she didn't want to be seen with Jay. In fact, she would love to show the other guys that she was back together with her ninja. It was just slightly embarrassing for the three of them walking in on them in bed together. They hadn't... _done_ anything, just lied there together, but it was still rather hard to explain if anyone wanted to ask. She shook her head and focused. Jay seemed to have left already for the kitchen. Nya smiled and left the room to find her boyfriend.

She found him humming a nice tune while pouring flour and milk into a mixing bowl. She looked around the room and saw two containers of chocolate chips and blueberries.

_Chocolate blueberry pancakes. Perfect. _She loved when Jay cooked breakfast; it was always a pancake or something similar, topped with syrup and berries. When he didn't have syrup, it was chocolate sauce. It was certainly better than Cole's meals.

_Oh, Cole. I have to explain this to him. _It would have to be in private, away from the others. She had to end this matter quickly and quietly if she wanted things to get back to normal as soon as they could. She wasn't looking forward to it, at all... She banished the thought and focused on _now_.

"Looks good!" Nya said, coming in to sit down at the counter. Jay turned towards her, his eyes bright for the first time since he had found out about the whole perfect match thing. It was refreshing to see him happy again.

"Yeah. I wanted to make something nice for today," he told her, taking a long wooden spoon to start mixing the ingredients together to make batter.

"I love your pancakes," she told him, handing him some sugar to add to the mix. All of the guys liked their food sweet.

"Oh, this time I'm not making pancakes," he told her, grinning. Nya raised and eyebrow.

"Then why are you making pancake batter?"

"Because," he said. "I'm making..." He stirred up the mix one last time. He then turned to the island in the center to pull a round appliance from a corner. "Waffles!"

"Waffles?" She laughed. "Not the normal Jay Special Pancakes?"

"I wanted to try out something different this time," he explained. "Ooh! Or I could make funnel cakes for all of us. All I need is some oil, put it in a pan or something, then pour in the batter..." He looked away dreamily. "I haven't had a funnel cake for a while."

"Make it for dessert," Nya told him, her smile widening. "You've made me hungry for waffles."

"Alright, then." Jay began humming again as he used a spatula to pour the homemade mixture from the bowl into the waffle iron.

"Hey, can you find the others and get them up?" he asked, closing the iron on the first waffle slowly. "Waffles are only good when warm. I they ain't up they'll complain about missing breakfast."

"Sure," she said, standing up. She pushed the stool she had been sitting on to one side and left the room.

Nya looked in each room down the hall before reaching the room past her own: the game room. Rolling her eyes, she opened the wooden door. It swung with a creak inwards, and revealed the messiest room she'd ever seen.

Kai, Cole, and Zane were sprawled over the couches and beanbag chairs, blankets all over the floor and pizza scattered across the room. There was a soda spill in front of the TV, and the theme from _Fist to Face 2_ was blaring through the speakers, with the images of ninja beating up skeletons pulsing on the screen. The walls were sticky with soda, and wads of rolled up paper were stuck to the walls with dried chewing gum.

"Thank Heaven for soundproofing," she muttered, before making her way through the mess, stepping over pizza boxes and pillows to reach the TV. She nearly tripped on the spilled cup of root bear. Getting and idea, she picked it up, scowling at the dripping brown liquid, then threw it at Kai. Her brother was laying on his stomach on a sofa, his hair more messy that usual, and the game remote hanging from his fingers. When the soft drink cup smashed into his face, spilling the remaining contents all over his face he shot to his feet, eyes wide.

"Sensei?" he exclaimed before seeing Nya switching off the television. "Oh. Nya. What was that for?"

"What?" Zane got to his feet from the beanbag chair he was slouched on, a piece of pizza in his hands. "Oh, hello. Why have you awakened us?"

"Jay's making waffles," she told them. "He wants me to get you lazy gamers up."

"Waffles? Jay's making waffles?" Cole gasped, shooting up from the floor. "Woohoo! I love waffles. Oh, hi Nya." He gave her a big grin, and she smiled awkwardly back.

"We were going to invite Jay to our game night," Zane said, flipping the panel on his chest open to flick a switch that said _Party_ towards the off side. "But Kai said he was busy."

"Yeah, what was Jay doing? He never misses a chance to play _Fist to Face 2_. Especially when Sensei Wu isn't here to tell us to stop," Cole noted, straightening his hair. Nya flashed a glare at Kai.

_Don't. Say. A. Word. _Her brother caught the message and nodded slightly.

"I guess he was sleeping," the red ninja guessed.

"Well, he missed out!" Cole said. "Let's get down there for some waffles!"

Nya walked out of the room and stood by the door as Cole and Zane left. As soon as they were down the hall, Kai walked out, and Nya jumped in alongside him.

"Thanks," she said once the others were in earshot. Kai shrugged.

"You looked like you needed it at dinner. And Jay's really been down."

"I'm choosing him," Nya blurted out. She had to tell someone, and if she couldn't trust Kai, then she could trust no one. "Jay, I mean. Cole is a good guy and all that, but I want Jay to be with me."

"At least you figured this out," Kai told her. "Seeing those two fight is really bad for the team."

"Do you think Cole will be fine?" she asked, frowning. Kai rolled his eyes.

"Cole has a lot of options, Nya. Don't you see the way girls look at him when we're out in the city?"

"Er... no?"

"Well, he has fangirls. And so does Zane. And," He smiled smugly. "I do too." Nya giggled, covering her hand with her mouth. It was so unlike her to do so, but it was so funny to think of. "What?" he protested. "I do!"

"You," she said slowly, regaining her composure. "Having fangirls?"

"Yes!"

"That's so weird!"

"Oh, come on! No it's not!"

"Kai," Nya sighed, shaking her head. "Grow up."

"Wha...?" Kai stopped, dumbfounded, as Nya smirked and walked ahead, into the dining room. She took her normal seat, vacated for the time being because of Kai, as Jay set a plate down in front of everyone.

"Jay," Cole said, drowning his meal in chocolate sauce. "I love it when you make waffles!"

"Thanks," the blue ninja said, taking his place across from Nya to eat his own meal. She gave him a small smile before tucking into her breakfast.

* * *

**Okay, how do you like it? Leave a review whether your did, didn't, or constructive criticisms! The threat and the problem begins in the next chapter, which I'll have up ASAP. **

**Thanks! **

**Jay.**


	2. Two

**Okay, now we're at a few days after the Overlord's defeat by Zane. As many of you know, Zane "dies". (I saw the episodes in really bad quality on Youtube). But yeah. Spoilers for that. The Ninja don't yet know that he's alive in the computers of Borg Tower. **

**So, enjoy! Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorite-d, and followed this thing. It's really appreciated. I think I'll do some individual responses to reviews in the next chapter :D**

* * *

Weeks later, Kai sat in the central park of Ninjago city, hanging his head. He was alone on the bench in front of the Titanium Ninja statue. As usual, the falcon was perched on it's shoulder, looking into the distance.

Probably at the rebuilding. After the destruction of New Ninjago City, Cyrus Borg was leading the construction process to recreate the city, combing technology with the ways of the past. The first and hardest challenge was getting the buildings in place; the Overlord had used many to create his fortress. Cole and Jay were there with Nya, helping out, while Sensei Wu and Lloyd went to check out the villages outside of the city; they would have been affected by the attack of the Golden Master. Garmadon had gone back to monastery with Misako.

Kai sighed; everything was different without Zane. The white ninja should have been there, helping out with recreating the city. But he was gone, and they couldn't do anything about it. Nothing. He felt like a horrible friend, a horrible brother, for not doing what he could to bring the white ninja back.

But Zane was gone. Nothing could be done.

* * *

Jay let out a sigh of frustration as his Thunder Raider tank – the one he had hacked on the night of the Overlord's return – got stuck in a pothole. Again.

"You alright, Jay?" Nya asked over the comlinks. She was above him, in her Samurai X suit.

"Yeah. Pothole," he told her, scratching the back of his head. A grunt from Cole interrupted Nya as she began to reply.

"Hey, at least we're nearly finished with this building! Then we can take a break and go around the city."

_Who's 'we', dirtbag? _Jay thought, gritting his teeth. Ever since his night with Nya he had been very, very fed up with Cole trying to take his girlfriend. He was especially annoyed with the fact that when the Golden Master had been defeated and they had found what was left of Zane, half of his face, she had run into his leader's arms. When he had been standing there. That had only added to his grief: first, he lost his brother. Then, his girlfriend went to another guy – his other brother – for comfort. She didn't seem at all interested in Cole now, though; they had spent a little time talking and he had even started to consider asking her out on a date.

But he was still unsure of it; on that night she had stayed with him, she seemed like she was choosing him; but he couldn't be certain. At all. And why had she been so hesitant when they asked who she was choosing after they saw the movie?

_Don't think about it. I'll just ask her once we're done. If she accepts, then maybe we're together again. Otherwise... _

"Yeah, but there's still so much work to do," Nya sighed. Jay revved his vehicle's engines again and reversed. The cable attached from the top of the Raider to the skyscraper they were trying to drag back in to place after the Overlord had shifted it's position to make the fortress wall strained with a loud groaning.

"Hey? Mind if anyone helps me get out of this hole?" he asked when the treads wouldn't budge. They just kicked up mud and gravel into the air and onto the roads.

"Yeah, sure buddy," Cole replied cheerfully as he detached his mech from the building and hopped over to him.

"Hey, don't be too - " Jay was cut off by a shout of surprise as Cole bent down and lifted the tank up into the air, took a few steps back and out of the hole, then set it down with a _THUMP. _The Lightning ninja inside was bounced up, banging his head against the cockpit. Nya giggled over the comlink, and Jay rubbed his auburn head, glaring at Cole.

"You could have been at least a little gentle," he said scathingly.

"Sorry," Cole said, without much of a "sorry" tone. "That's just the way the cookie crumbles."

"Funny, that's just what you said when you said to _leave Nya on the Dark Island with the Overlord_," Jay hissed. Static crackled.

"What?" Nya asked, sounding more accusing than curious. He hoped she didn't see the little triumphant smirk that danced across his face as his words sank in.

"Er, nothing," Cole responded quickly. "Lets just, uh, get on to fixing this building."

There was little chatter after Jay said that. He could sense the questioning radiating from his girlfriend as they worked.

_Well, it was true. He did say that. And I did nearly kill him, _Jay reasoned as the skyscraper – an office tower by the looks of it – rumbled across the ground.

"Almost... done..." Nya muttered.

"And... finished!" Cole announced, having gotten over his skittishness over the topic of leaving Nya behind. The tall structure slid into the original place in the city with a resounding boom.

"Whew," Jay said, pressing button on the control panel of the Thunder Raider to open the cockpit. He hopped out. "Glad that's done." Nya landed in her towering red-and-gold mech with a whirring of engines, and she leaped out and onto the ground.

"Yeah," she murmured. Taking off her helmet. Sweat was glistening on her brow, and she moved her hand to wipe it off. "Well, now I have to find Kai and then..."

_Now or never, Jay. You can do this. _

"Hey, Nya," He began, walking up to her with his hands clasped behind his back nervously. "So, I was wondering, if, um, you wanted to go walk around town later this evening!" he blurted out, not thinking of his words. "And then maybe we could go get some dinner somewhere..." Kai's sister blushed at the invitation.

_Come on, come on, accept! _He was desperate for her to say yes. If she refused, he'd be crushed, and might be a sign she preferred Cole to him.

"Sure! I mean – where? Here?" she asked, her cheeks getting redder. Jay laughed nervously.

"Maybe Jamanakai village! It never got attacked, and I know you love it there!" She had told him that on one of the moments they had shared together on the Bounty. But none were as great as...

"Oh, yeah!" she said brightly. "Six o'clock tonight? I'm free..."

"Yeah!" Jay almost yelped with excitement. "See you then!"

Nya walked over to him, gave him a very brief hug, then turned and headed towards the park to find her brother. As soon as she was out of earshot. He began doing his victory dance, smiling hugely as he danced across the rocky ground.

"Oh, yeah, you did it, oh yeah, you asked her," he sang, flashing his gaze towards Cole. The Earth ninja was still in the mech, staring up at the building he had just moved. He didn't seem to have noticed Jay's invitation to Nya.

_Well, Cole, all you love is cake. I love Nya. Ha ha. _

* * *

A few hours later, the Jay was in front of the mirror in their quarters on the _Destiny's Bounty_, brushing his hair as he leaned against the dresser, humming. "Lookin' good, Jay," he said quietly to himself, grinning. He patted down his orange-ish hair, then rubbed some lotion on his face; the days were hot and dry, and so was his skin most of the time from working on rebuilding.

"Gotta look good," he told himself. "Gotta make a good impression."

The door swung open behind them, and Jay jumped around, startled; he bet it would be Cole; but it wasn't. Lloyd walked in, grinning.

"Just got a call from my dad," he said, a hint of pride in his voice. "He said the girls at his monastery are really wanting to see me." He looked the older ninja up and down. "What are you getting all dressed up for?"

"A date with Nya, and I'm not getting 'all dressed up'," Jay told the green ninja, adjusting the sleeves on his jacket; he was wearing a simple blue jacket with a white T-shirt and jeans for this one; they were walking around Jamanakai village, not some fancy restaurant or a dancing date, like they'd done before. He wanted to be casual.

"Oh, you got that whole thing with Cole resolved?" Lloyd said pushing Jay out of the way to brush his hair. "That's cool. By the way, you might see Sensei there. He said he would stay in Jamanakai for a while longer after we finished checking out the villages."

"Er, yeah, I did, and great!" he lied about the matter with Cole, scowling. "Well, see you later! I have to pick up Nya!" He threw the last words over his shoulder as he stepped away from the dresser and out of the room. As he walked down the hall towards Nya's room, he muttered to himself. "It's okay, you can do this, you've taken her to a lot fancier things than a walk, Jay!" He had been dating Nya for almost two years now and he had embarrassed himself a lot of times on those dates. Mostly because of etiquette or personal fears. But this was a casual walk-with-my-girlfriend-in-her-favorite-place kind of thing. It couldn't be hard at all.

But this was very, very nerve-wracking for him, because Jay felt it was the day their relationship would rekindle or...

_Rekindle. Think positive! She most likely likes you! Not Cole! Heh, heh..._

Sweat was making Jay's hands clammy as he forced himself to walk forward towards Nya's door. Shakily, he clenched his fingers into a fist and knocked irregularly on the wooden door.

"H-hey, Nya!" he called after he knocked. "It's Jay, uh, yeah, we're going to Jamanakai village, and er, I'm here..."

The door swung open to reveal Nya in her Samurai X suit, her hair messy from the helmet.

"Oh, hey Jay!" she said, redness creeping into her face. Jay grinned nervously. "Sorry, just got back from a report of some rogue nindroids outside of the city. Turned out to be some birds with black and red feathers."

"Sounds fun," Jay said with sarcasm hinting in his voice. She laughed.

"Yeah, I just wasted and hour and a half for that!" she told him as she removed her armor, which revealed the dress she usually wore. Jay didn't care; she looked amazing.

"You look..."

"Come on, Jay," she giggled, taking his hand. "What are we taking there?"

"Heh heh... I mean, uh, Kai told me that he was taking us down there in his jet," Jay replied nervously. She rolled her eyes.

"Kai is so protective," she muttered.

"He can be an annoying jerk sometimes," Jay sighed.

"Yeah."

There was an awkward pause as they headed out on the deck together. As they passed one of the rooms, P.I.X.A.L poked her silver head out, watched them for a few seconds, then retreated inside once more. Beside him, Nya sighed.

"Poor P.I.X.A.L," his girlfriend murmured and pressed a little closer to Jay. "She's lost Zane, and seeing us probably reminds her of him."

"Mmm Hmm," Jay said, having flashbacks of his dead brother. He was glad Zane had found happiness at last, but it had been so close to the end...

"Jay, are you alright? I hope you aren't turning into a snake again..." Nya said, gently poking him in the arm as they walked up the short set of stairs and onto the open deck. The breeze blew their hair to one side; Jay scowled. He had worked for a while to get the hair he wanted for tonight.

"No, I'm fine, really," he assured her. "I'm just thinking about Zane."

"I miss him too," she said softly. "But come on, Kai's over there!" Her voice regained it's cheerfulness from earlier, although it was dampened.

Jay's eyes brightened as they walked hand-in-hand to Kai's flaming red jet, with the red ninja leaning up against the cockpit.

"Okay, rules. Mr. Walker, you get to take my sister out into town. That's it. You can go have dinner and stuff but don't do anything else. Number Two - "

"Kai!" Nya snapped. "You gave us this talk before!" When Jay had taken Nya out on to a dance in the city, Kai had given them a very long lecture on something like "COME HOME STRAIGHT AFTER THE DANCE AND IF I DON'T SEE NYA IN HER BED BY 11:00 PM THIS TEAM IS WITHOUGHT LIGHTNING!" It had been pounded into his head very well.

"Fine. But you know the rules. "IF I DON'T SEE NYA - "

"Calm down, Kai!" Jay sighed. "I know. 11:00 PM sharp. We'll be here by then, I promise!" He hopped into the back of the cockpit that Kai had modified to fit two passengers and one pilot. Nya flipped over the edge and was seated in front of him. Jay slid his hands through a gap between the seat and the fighter and hand her hands. She squeezed his and turned her head to give him a little smile.

"And don't do anything out of line!" Kai told him loudly from the pilot's seat. "Or I kill you."

"Alright, alright!" Jay sighed and gave Nya a kiss on the cheek, just to annoy the Fire Ninja.

"THAT IS OUT OF LINE - "

"Kai, shut up!" Nya slapped her brother upside the head and turned around to give Jay a big kiss on the lips. Jay raised a challenging eyebrow at the Fire ninja as he responded. Kai's face got redder and redder. When the two of them finally pulled away, smoke was literally coming from his ears.

But he didn't say anything, thankfully, and the jet lifted off into the air. Jay made sure his belt was buckled before letting out a whoop as they did a sudden dive into the clouds. Nya laughed and turned around to kiss him once more. When she was finished, he leaned forward and kissed her.

"Stop that!" Kai shouted. "Stop kissing my sister, Jay!"

The reaction from Jay was to simply kiss Nya again.

_Yeah, he is protective... _

After fifteen minutes of antagonizing Kai with their displays of affection, they landed outside of Jamanakai village. The cockpit popped open with a hiss, and Jay flipped out. He reached out his arm to help Nya out, and she took it. When she got out of the jet, she gave the blue ninja a big hug. Kai gritted his teeth.

"Bye," he growled as he closed the cockpit. "11:00 PM! Or..." His words were drowned out by the sound of the jet rising, then shooting off, back towards the _Bounty_. Jay turned to Nya, and took her hand in his. She smiled at him – a real smile, not just one to annoy her brother – and they walked into the small mountain village.

As usual, snow was covering the tops of all of the shops and homes, and a chilling northern air blew through the street. Nya shivered beside him. Almost instinctively Jay slipped off his blue jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders.

"Thanks," Nya said, shuddering from the cold. "I should have worn a sweater or something."

"It's f-fine," Jay replied, shivering, as he rubbed his arms to warm them up. All he was wearing was a white T-shirt. Nya rolled her eyes and came closer to him.

"No, it's not. I don't want you freezing to death," she said sternly. Jay grinned at her tone.

"It's not that b-bad..."

"Then why are yous shivering every moment?" Nya turned on her heels, standing to front of him. She put her hands firmly on his shoulders. "We need to find some dinner somewhere. With warm food. But for now..." Nya leaned forward and pressed a kiss onto his cheek. He blinked a couple times as her lips came in contact with his cold skin. It felt good. He smiled almost stupidly as she pulled away, her chocolate brown eyes filled with concern. "There? Does that warm you up?"

"Yeah..." Jay sighed, staring at her dreamily. Once again, this affection wasn't to annoy someone; it was for real, and that changed everything. It felt different. She smiled and took his hand once more. They continued to walk along, looking at all of the low roofed buildings for any restaurants. So far, all there was were some family-owned shops and houses. Nothing to eat, yet.

"So, Nya," Jay began. "Do you want to do something after this? Like, uh..." His mind went blank for a moment, trying to the think of something to do.

"Maybe we could just talk," she murmured. "When we get back, I mean, because I want to tell you something..."

"Can't you tell me now?" Jay asked. But before she could reply, he saw a big sign painted above a large home in the village circle. "Ooh, look! Food!" He pointed to the shop with excitement. Nya's eyes brightened.

"Awesome!" Nya exclaimed. "I'm starving!" They let go of each others hands' to jog towards the restaurant. Jay got there first, and held the door for Nya, who reach it a second later. She smiled and stepped inside. Jay followed, glad to get out of the cold.

The restaurant was a small place with few patrons, so Jay and Nya took a seat on one of the booths right up on the wall. They sat across from each other for a while before someone, a woman in a white Chinese-style dress came to their table with a pad of paper.

"Hello, and welcome! What can I get for you today?" She sounded pleasant enough, with a slight accent.

"Uh... Nya? What do you want to get?" he asked, turning to his girlfriend. She glanced at the menus that had been set on the tables. They were written on simple sheets of parchment, nothing too fancy.

"I'll take... the medium rice and teryaki chicken combo with a salad on the side," she decided after a moment.

"I'll have the same," Jay told the waitress after she had written the order. She nodded and walked away to get their order. They say for a while before Jay began talking.

"So, what do you want to tell me?" he asked, reaching his hand over the table. She took it, frowning slightly.

"Well... You know the whole thing with the Perfect Match machine and Cole being that match..." she didn't meet his eyes for a second.

"Yeah," Jay replied, not sure where this was going. _Is she... telling me who she'll pick? _"What about it?"

"Well... I've decided who I'm picking," she finally admitted, her chocolate eyes meeting his sapphire blue ones. "It's... You, Jay. I know I like Cole, he's strong and all, but you... I want you by my side for the rest of my life." Her voice was very quiet as she spoke, and her cheeks were very, very red. Jay stared at her for a moment before leaning forward to kiss her. She leaned forward and they met, eyes closed.

They had barely made contact when the waitress came back. They pulled away abruptly. Jay frowned slightly at the woman with their food, but she didn't seem to take any notice. "Here you go!" she said cheerfully. "Enjoy your meal!" Jay pulled out some money to pay, and gave it to her. Once she had left, they tucked into their meals.

"This is good chicken," Jay noted after eating nearly half of the serving. "I wonder if I could get some to go." Nya giggled.

"I personally like the salad," she told him. "It reminds me of cherry blossom trees."

"Hey, there's a park that my mom used to take me to when I was little," he said, lifting some rice to his mouth with chopsticks. "It's full of those trees. Maybe we could go there when we're done here."

"That would be nice," Nya said, finishing off the leaves of her salad. She began moving on to the chicken.

"Yeah, it's around the Forest of Tranquility, pretty small, but it's really nice. There are these rare birds - "

Suddenly, the door to the restaurant flew open, off of it's hinges and onto one of the tables. Almost immediately, Jay was on his feet, a katana poised in defensive position. Behind him, Nya was brandishing her fan blade, glinting red in the lighting. The rest of the people inside began cowering behind tables and chairs.

A huge, hulking figure stepped inside. It was dressed in bulky black-gray armor on his torso and arms. Two gauntlets protected his arms, gleaming silver. On his legs a kind of metal skirt went around the back of his legs and down all the way to his knees. He was wearing back leather boots. The figure's head, though, was the strangest part. It had the head of a dragon, with strangely human eyes, a long snout with fangs bristling from it, and a ridge of spikes going from between it's pointed ears and down his back. It was holding two black katanas. It's purple eyes scanned the restaurant before setting it's evil gaze on Jay and Nya.

"You are one of the ninja that the prophecy speaks of!" he roared, pointing his blades at Jay. His voice was raspy but deep, and menacing. "Stand down or I will kill you!"

"Not happening, lizard face!" Jay snapped back. "Ninja-GO!" He whirled into action, using Spinjitzu to knock the enemy outside the door. He was instantly transformed, from a young man in a white T-shirt and jeans to a ninja, his lightning-patterned robes and mask gleaming. The dragon warrior was on the ground, growling.

Jay took a quick look around, and his heart nearly stopped with what he saw: the dragon people were all around Jamanakai village, bringing the people out of buildings and lining them up. Jay turned back to his own fight.

"Who are you, and what are you doing in Ninjago?" he hissed. The dragon laughed.

"You'll learn once I destroy you!" he snarled, then leaped to his feet with a katana in one hand and a long serrated blade clenched in his other fist. With a roar, the warrior launched himself at Jay. The blue ninja barely had time to raise his own sword to defend himself, but he quickly recovered as the dragon's jagged end got stuck on Jay's weapon. He quickly pulled the silver blade back and bright the sharp edge onto the enemy's head. It fell, hissing.

"Jay!"

A familiar voice called from across the circle. Sensei Wu was battling more dragon warriors with his staff, knocking them down at every turn.

_Of course! _Lloyd said that Sensei would be here, and he was glad that his old teacher was here; he would need help fighting these foes. "Are you here alone?" Wu asked, beating back a dragon bearing a scythe.

"Nya's here with me!" Jay responded, flipping over one of them who ran at him. He cut the black-armored thing down onto the ground.

"Where?"

"Here!" Nya jumped out of the shop, her fan in one hand. "We need reinforcements to fight – who are these guys?"

"Ancient dragon people," Sensei said, dodging attacks left and right to reach his pupils. "When the First Spinjitzu Master created the Serpentine, he also made a race of dragon warriors. They were made to protect the remote edges of Ninjago. As you can see, they have strayed from that path." Jay sighed.

"Just as we defeat the most powerful enemy in all of Ninjago, we get another one who's even worse!" he exclaimed, scowling. "Did the First Spinjitzu Master have to create these guys?"

"Do not lose heart, Jay. You will remain here with me to fight. Nya, go to the ship and get Cole, Lloyd, and Kai. Zane - " He broke off when he remembered. "P.I.X.A.L can manage the _Bounty_ until our return."

"Got it," Nya nodded an affirmative, then turned and gave Jay a kiss on the cheek. "Keep fighting," she murmured, then raced off. She pressed a button on her bracelet: a remote that piloted her mech to the position she was at.

"Now," Sensei said, turning to face the dragons. Jay took a breath and followed suit "We fight."

* * *

**Alright, a longer chapter! Tell me if you like the Ninja's new foe and stuff. More is revealed about them later, and their whole "prophecy" thing.**

**My idea with the Dragon Warriors is that we've seen Ninja fighting an army of ninja (the Nindroids), so why not Samurai warriors? That's my idea, anyway... **

**I personally like writing Kai's annoyance at Jay and Nya as much as Nya likes that salad. **

**I hoped you like it!**


	3. Three

**Sorry for not updating yesterday; My dad is a Civil War reenactor, and we had to go to a reenactment for the day. **

**Now, onto individual reviews! **

_**Sketchrex**_**: Yeah, the First Spinjitzu Master was kind of an idiot. So I played that up for this story. **

**I just saw a bunch of stories with evil Samurai. Right after I uploaded the chapter. XD. **

**Indeed it is good relief from the rest of the tensity between the ninja right now. **

**Thanks!**

**_Awesomesauce Samurai 15_: Jaya is da best. And I doubt Kai will ever learn...**

**_Fell-and-Fallen_: Thank you! I'm glad that you like reading my work, and I'll take spitting on your phone as a compliment XD The new enemies were something that I just thought up, but when I was drafting the story, I realized I needed some real, solid history for these people, so now there's an intricate and pretty cool (in my opinion) written up in one of my notebooks. Anyways, thank you for reading! :D**

**_JayandNyamakelove_: Thanks! I've been working on how they can fend them off for a few hours. **

**_Ninjago1234_: I can't reveal any of that just yet... MUAHAHAHAHA (Lloyd's evil laugh) **

**_jaya forever_: Thank you very much! **

**_Guest_: There will be some trouble from Nya's choice... but not quite yet... (Cue Lloyd's evil laugh again) MUAHAHAHAHA. **

**Now that I've used half a page on responses, onto the chapter itself! :D**

* * *

Jay drew his second katana from his back and batted away two dragons. Beside him, Sensei Wu was kicking and knocking the strange warriors over the head and forcing them away with powerful blows.

"We don't stand a chance against these guys unless Nya can get the others over here!" the blue ninja shouted over the almost deafening noise of the warriors roaring and baying and howling as they charged. Jay and Wu were in the village center now, and fighting for their lives.

"Let us hope she is not in trouble of her own," Sensei said, whacking a warrior over the head like it was a training dummy. "Even one dragon warrior is a match for ninja. They are Samurai – fierce, proud, and relentless."

"I know what a Samurai is!" Jay sighed, spinning his katanas in his hands before he leaped into a horde of the black-scaled creatures advancing towards him. "My girlfriend is one, if you hadn't noticed!"

"They live somewhere – in the remotest mountains of Ninjago! They have never left their homes to war with the people before!"

"Why did the First Spinjitzu Master have to make these guys! Serpentine – okay, they're fine now! But seriously! If he was a ninja -"

"The ninja would be too occupied with warring the Overlord than dealing with threats that come from beyond the seas!" Sensei interrupted. Jay rolled his eyes; they were locked in a deadly battle with evil samurai and he found it appropriate for a history lesson! "The dragons would fight off leviathans and other beasts that could ravage the land! They were honorable – noble, but they didn't - "

"But they aren't now!" Jay snapped, finally losing it. "Whatever they were before, Sensei, they have to be stopped now! Ninja-GO!"

Jay launched himself into Spinjitzu, his lightning tornado sucking in dragons, then spitting them out, incapacitated. He was a whirlwind of ferocity, destruction and fear to his enemies. Many of the warriors saw him, dropped their weapons and fled.

Jay jumped out of his Spinjitzu, grinning and letting out a loose laugh. Doing that ancient art always left him feeling invigorated, stronger, and ready to take on the world.

Well, not the world right now. The entire legion of dragon warriors would be more appropriate than the world.

He did a flip and kicked one persistent dragon, who had not been caught in the tornado, in the snout. It let out a yelp of pain, dropping the solid iron bo staff in it's fist to cover the damaged nose. Jay used the flat of his katana to finish the fighter off.

"We can hold them until Nya gets back here, can't we?" Jay asked, putting his hands on his waist triumphantly, standing over the defeated bodies of his advisories.

"This is no time for gloating!" Sensei reprimanded him. The blue ninja turned and realized that his teacher was still desperately fighting back the fiends surrounding him.

"Sorry!" Jay leaped forward and into the group of Samurai surrounding Wu. He used his swords to taken down most of them. One dragon, a small purple one wielding dual sais, jabbed at him from underneath.

Jay wasn't ready for an attack from under him.

The sai stuck into his stomach.

Blood. Lots of blood. One moment, Jay was knocking down opponents like they were sacks of grain to help Sensei Wu, the next minute, blood was spurting from his abdomen. The blue ninja staggered backwards, letting out shouts of pain, dropping both silver blades from his hands. He clutched at his punctured stomach.

"Jay!"

He could hear his teacher's words; they were coming from close by... or was that far away?... he didn't really know. All he knew was that he was suddenly detached from the battle with excruciating pain ripping through him.

Blood was covering his hands. Sweat began pouring from his brow, and all he knew was that he was falling to the ground. Everything was in slow-motion for some reason, but it couldn't have taken more than a couple seconds in reality.

And then he blacked out.

* * *

Nya raced away from the battle, dodging the deadly projectiles - sais, shurikens, katanas, and even stones – being thrown at her from behind. She had tried to slip away unnoticed after she had been sent to fetch the others. Apparently she hadn't been as good as she thought at the art of silent getaways, because almost immediately ten or eleven of them turned from fighting Jay and Sensei to attack her.

She was glad she had mastered the art of running quickly, though. All she needed to do was get to the edge of the mountain, call her Samurai X mech, and the ninja would probably see it flying off. They would know something was wrong and follow.

Finally, she reached the edge of Jamanakai village center and the buildings that made a ring around the edge. She hopped into an alley between two houses, pressed herself against one of the wooden walls, and took a deep breath.

_Alright, Nya. Look around. Is there anyone following you? _She flashed a glace towards the entrance of the alley: there was no one.

_ Okay. If no one is there, then it's safe to move slowly, slowly down towards the edge of the mountain... _ She stepped away from the wall.

And of course, that was when three dragons decided it was time to follow her.

"Hey!" one yowled, pointing at her with clawed hands. "It's the ninja's girl!" She sighed with a mix of frustration and fear; these creatures were a lot stronger than she was. All she could hope was that they couldn't maneuver as well as she could. She did a flip over a few trash cans in the center of the narrow lane, ducked under a sign, then turned and ran towards the cliff.

She didn't look back, but her ears worked well enough. The racket of three bulky and heavily armed and armored warriors trying to crash through the alley was very noisy. Nya turned and unsheathed her fan. She didn't prefer this weapon, but it was great for close quarter fighting. And she suspected she would be doing some in a moment.

After the three warriors stumbled out from the wreckage of three trash cans, a torn sign, and most of their armor, Nya's bracelet began to flash red.

_It's coming. Come on, hold out for a few more seconds..._

"She's already more trouble than she looks," one growled, taking a step forward. It had lost it's heavy chest protection to reveal a very scaly torso. But it still had a sword. "Get 'er. And kill 'er, if ye need to."

"You won't be doing that," Nya snapped, drawing her blade as well. This was going to get ugly unless...

One of the dragons let out a guttural roar, and launched himself at Nya. She sidestepped him, then stabbed him in the back. He had no armor, leaving the softer, less protected scales near his waist vulnerable. It screeched, then fell off of the cliff.

"Yep, lots more trouble," the last one hissed. "I go' 'er boss!"

She took a breath. There was no way she could stand up to two of these dragons in a dress and Jay's jacket. She closed her eyes, preparing to make a final stand.

_Vrr..._

The whirring of engines reached Nya's ears from below her. She thought she was imagining it.

_Vrr..._ No, it was real. And getting louder. Which meant it was getting nearer. She opened her eyes: the two warriors were stalking towards her, brandishing their bladed weapons.

She had one option left. She decided on it.

Nya jumped over the side.

She landed in the Samurai X mech that was flying up from the ground towards the sky, landing with an _oof_! in open cockpit. Her helmet was lowered onto her head and armor placed by an internal mechanism of the suit, just under Jay's jacket as soon as the giant helmet of the mech lowered; Kai had helped her build it. Nya set the controls to fly straight up, preparing the cannons to be ready to blow up her enemies.

The two dragons had just been preparing to jump off the cliff with their wings unfurled when the Samurai exploded from beneath them, weapons bristling.

"What the - "

The dragon never finished his statement. Nya aimed the cannons at them and fired her missiles. The two were destroyed on impact.

Satisfied with her work, Nya glided forward, slowing the jets in the Samurai mech's feet so she wouldn't pass over the battle completely. Even still, she overshot the center and hand to double back to reach where Sensei and Jay were fighting down the main horde of enemies.

Or at least, from what she could see with her aerial position, where _Sensei_ was fighting. She couldn't spot Jay anywhere. _That's weird, _she thought. Usually his blue uniform and Spinjitzu tornado would be clearly visible from her height. And sometimes even his battle cries were audible from a long way away.

Nya shook her head. He might be rounding up the civilians or in another part of Jamanakai village fighting. Right now, she had to help Wu. The Samurai primed her cannons, using her helmet's HUD, the Heads Up Display, to aim with a few rapid blinks at one corner of the visor she wore. The screen was tinted blue, partly because she loved the color and partly because it made bright lights and colors during battle softer on the eyes.

She pressed a button on the suit's control panel and fired. The missile flew towards the ground, exploding when it hit and causing a plume of smoke to rise from the place of impact. Whatever enemies that had been standing there were vaporized, leaving only a shallow crater in the ground. She decided to land there; hopefully the dragons would get the message that if they tried to stop her, they'd be dead. Nya pulled a lever off to the side and the jets flickered off. The mech landed with a rumble in the dip, and the cockpit hissed open.

Nya flipped out of the Samurai X suit and pulled out her katana. There was always one ready to be equipped in her armor just in case she lost any weapons. She also had some spare shuriken and a small dagger concealed in all of her dresses and body armor. Kai said it was overkill, but she never knew what was going to happen, especially since the nindroid problem. Nya began to cut down dragons left and right, blood spattering across the ground and onto Jay's jacket.

_Oh, great. Now I've messed up his sweater... _she thought, rolling her eyes. The dragon blood was a purple-blue color, thicker than human blood. It was sort of like syrup.

One dragon turned and swiped at her with his claws. She ducked, stabbed him, then pulled the blade from the scaly chest. Another swung nunchucks at her. Duck, roll, slice. Duck, jump, stab. The simple process of battle soon fell into a seemingly natural rhythm. She had her goal, so she would follow through until she reached that objective: finding Sensei and Jay.

Finally, after taking down countless warriors and reducing the numbers of their forces to only around ten or twelve, she reached the old teacher. And when she saw what he was standing over, protecting from the dragons, her blood ran cold in her veins.

Jay was on the ground, eyes closed, with blood dripping from a stab wound to his stomach. His face was ashen. His hands were covered with the red substance.

_He's dead. _

_ No, Jay can't be dead! He can't, he can't, he can't._

With an yell that was a mixture of anguish, rage, fear, and sobbing all in one, Nya flung herself at the dragons, spinning her katana. She whipped out her fan blade and began slicing through dragons – necks, eyes, chests, arms, whatever she could reach.

After a few seconds, the corpses of eleven dragon warriors were lying on the ground around Jay, their purple blood mixing with the pool of the Lightning ninja's red. Nya stood there, panting, her fire-hued armor stained. Sensei Wu was sighing from the effort of the fight, stroking his beard and leaning on his staff as he looked over Jay. Nya tore her helmet off of her head and let it drop to the ground. She rushed to her boyfriend, laying in a pool of his own blood, and knelt over him. She gently pulled his hand up from where it was resting, on the wound, and gripped it in her hands.

"Jay," she whispered, staring in horror at his limp form. "Oh, Jay, what happened?" She quickly gazed up at Wu. He had his eyes closed and was muttering something under his breath. "Sensei? What...?" For a long time the wise old man did not respond.

"The Dragon Samurai," he finally responded, opening his eyes. "One got through his guard."

"Is he..." Nya knew that her lover was not dead yet. The faint rise and fall of his chest indicated that he was still alive, albeit probably fading fast. They needed to get him help soon.

"He will not die just yet, Nya. He is strong, but this injury is worsening. We must get him to Ninjago City," Wu told her, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. Nya began to feel tears brimming in her eyes.

"There's no time to get to the city. There's a healer in this village. It would be closer, and..." her voice trailed off, threatening to crack with panic.

"The citizens of Jamanakai village left. The only place we could go is - "

"No!" Nya snapped, her voice trembling. "He'll die if we don't treat him fast! They can't have gone far, can they?"

"Nya..."

Before she could let out a retort, the sound of engines whizzed overhead. Both she and the Sensei looked up to see Kai falling from above, with Cole just behind him. P.I.X.A.L was after the Earth ninja, and taking the rear - or top - was Lloyd. They all landed in a messy pile on top of the dragons, but quickly sorted themselves out with a lot of grumbling and muttering.

"Sis!" Kai exclaimed, getting up first. He must have seen the blood on the blue sweater and thought she was injured.

"I-I'm fine, Kai," she murmured, her voice almost a whisper. "It's J-jay that's..."

Her brother didn't seem to hear her; as soon as he reached her he wrapped her in a tight hug. Cole did as well. She felt extremely awkward, but she had no time for that now. She pushed away from their embraces and pointed to Jay. "Jay nearly g-got killed," she said, regaining some of her strength.

"Dang," Kai muttered, kneeling over his fallen brother. He looked stricken. "We can't lose another, not after Zane..."

"Nya, it's going to be okay," Cole said softly, wrapping his arms around her once more. "I mean, we have each other - "

"No," she gasped out, trying to stop the tears. "I want to be with Jay. I don't... I love him. I..." Nya broke into tears, pulling away from the Earth ninja and putting her head in her hands. She ignored the expression of surprise and whatever else was there – she didn't care.

She closed her eyes as tears streaked down her face.

* * *

**No, Jay ain't going to die in this tale.** **I'll tell you all that much. **

**I hope you enjoyed; leave comments, question, constructive criticism, etc. in the reviews! :D **


	4. Four

**HELLO. I'll state my apologies down below. But this is really a cool-down chapter from the action last time. The next will pick up with a whole lot more intensity.  
**

* * *

Jay woke up in the hospital, feeling a horrible pain in his stomach and a throbbing headache. Letting out a groan, he sat up a little on the bed he was laying in. Blinking a few times, he flashed his blue eyes around the room. There were some nurses looking at monitors or at clipboards in their hands. There were maybe five or six in all, three of which were robots. From the insignias on their clothes – or chests, respectively – Jay could tell that he was at Ninjago General Hospital, in the city.

The blue ninja groaned once more, raising a hand to his brow. He felt sweat beading down onto his palm and fingers. How long had be been here? What had happened to Nya and Sensei? Was he..."

Thinking so hard intensified his headache, so he laid his head back down on the stark white pillow, stained by his perspiration. Jay sighed and closed his eyes. He couldn't help but wondering what had happened. All he could remember before the waves of pain and blood hit was that some tiny dragon had gotten beneath his guard with a sai... and then he was gone.

_Did Sensei Wu make it? Did Nya make it? Man, I can't lose her again... _If they had taken her like they had at the Dark Island, he'd _kill_ someone. Preferably a giant black dragon warrior.

"Mr. Walker? Are you awake?" Jay opened his blue eyes slightly. One of the robotic nurses – a tall humanoid that looked rather like a circle with an oval on top. It had multiple arms which were all carrying surgical equipment. To top it off, it had a round head and two circular yellow eyes.

"Y...yeah," he murmured, shaking his head as he propped himself up on the pillows. "Who brought me in?" He needed to know; If Nya was okay, then she probably would have been the one to take him here.

"A nice young lady and a very handsome young man," one of the human nurses said, turning around from a computer screen. Jay sighed in relief. _Nya's okay! _He could guess that the young man was either Kai or Cole or Zan- _Oh, wait. Zane's gone. _

"How long ago?"

"Oh, last night," the same nurse replied, picking up a clipboard. "You've been improving slowly, but now you've woken up."

"Where are they?" he asked. Maybe they stayed... or more likely they left. They needed rest after a fight like that.

"Oh, what was his name? Kai? Kai, right?" the nurse asked. Jay nodded an affirmative. "Well, Kai left, but Green Ninja and that pretty girl stayed here."

_Nya and Lloyd. Where's Cole? _

"You should be resting," the robotic nurse said, her voice cold. "My analysis says that with another twelve hour rest you will be quicker to recovering. At six hours you may begin to have visitors."

"Can't people come to see me now?" he asked, frowning slightly as sweat dribbled from his scalp and into his eyes.

"Your condition is still unstable," the droid said. "Not until you are in a safe state will visitors be able to enter."

"You were sparking half of the time," another human said as she plugged in a computer. "Shorted out all of our systems for a while."

_I electrocute things while I'm in pain? Hm._

Jay rested his head once more, and fell asleep.

* * *

Nya was sitting in a comfortable armchair in the waiting area outside of Jay's room in the hospital, a mug of steaming hot chocolate in her hands, but she wasn't drinking it. She let the hot mist rise from the liquid and curl around her head. The girl's eyes were closed as she thought.

At first when Jay had been stabbed, she'd been in shock. She was scared and desperate to see him safe, especially right after she had finally made the choice that Kai, Cole, and Jay himself were all waiting for. Now she was pondering all of the oh-so-poisonous _what-ifs _that came to her head.

What if they hadn't gone to Jamanaki village?

What if the Dragons didn't come?

What if the repercussions of her decision came up faster? Right now, Cole was at home cooking.

That last one was gnawing at her mind constantly. Nya sighed. If she kept contemplating these thoughts she would go insane. She blocked out her thoughts and let the warmth of the hot chocolate seep into her cold hands. Kai had bought it for her with money he'd stolen from Lloyd. Nya suspected that her brother would have taken from Jay's piggy bank had be not been the one injured. He had figured out how to disarm the alarm system for the pig-mech a while ago, with Zane's help.

The earpiece that Nya kept in her ear began to buzz annoyingly. It was a part of her mech suit that could fold into the side of her helmet, and connected to her HUD to record conversations. Setting the mug on a side table on her right she raised her hand to the comlink and tapped it to activate.

"Hey, sis!" It was Kai, obviously. "What's up?" His voice was seemingly cheerful.

"Nothing." Nya's voice was flat.

"Have you been able to see Jay? Is he all right?"

"No. The droid said he was unstable. Shocking everything in the room."

A snort of laughter was the reply. "Sounds like Jay. Are you hungry? Cole's made a pizza that actually isn't that bad."

It was Nya's turn to giggle, brightening her mood for a moment. _Cole? Making a pizza that tastes _good_? Unbelievable. _"And when I say not bad, by the way," her brother continued. "It's not good. It's just not horrible." Satisfied that her unbelief was justified, she sighed.

"Save me a couple pieces. I'll stay until closing time."

"Are you sure? We could eat in the parking lot..."

"No. Bye." She tapped the earpiece once more, cutting off anything the Fire Ninja might say next. She picked up her hot chocolate again, closed her eyes, and went back into wondering.

A couple days later, Nya was once again sitting in the waiting area. This time she had Lloyd and P.I.X.A.L with her, and both were talking quietly next to her. She hadn't been admitted to see her Lightning Ninja the last day she'd visited and Kai and Sensei had insisted that she remained on the Bounty the day after. She was getting mopey and depressed, and the last thing they wanted was for the team Samurai to not be battle-ready.

"And what if the Dragons attack again?" Kai had argued. "We need your help. Without Jay, we need everyone we can get." So Cole had taken to watching the radar room, looking for signs of trouble.

So far, none had come.

"And then, I flipped the nindroid over..." Lloyd's detailing – and embellishing – a story of a skirmish with Cryptor's forces in the Forest of Tranquility on the way to Garmadon's monastary brought her from her thoughts. She rolled her eyes; Nya had been there for that skirmish, and half of the stuff he was telling Zane's girlfriend wasn't even true. P.I.X.A.L, though, seemed engrossed by the tale and was listening intently. "And hit the eel that powered it right on the head. You should have seen that guy's face when he was about to shut down!"

Lloyd had been telling these stories for over thirty minutes now, so Nya decided it was finally time to shut his ego down, at least for a little bit. She turned to the two of them, one eyebrow raised. "I was there when this fight happened, right?" she asked. The Green Ninja looked at her suspiciously for a moment before nodding hesitantly.

"Yeah, you were."

"And if I remember correctly..." She glanced up at the beige-painted ceiling. _Wow, they really need a new color. Beige isn't a very cheery one. _"You were getting away with Kai and Sensei, not fighting with me, Cole, and Jay." Lloyd's face reddened. His eyes darted quickly to P.I.X.A.L, but she just seemed quietly confused. "And the Nindroids didn't get the eels as a power source until at least a week later."

"I-uh-maybe..." His face became a deeper shade of crimson. He was saved from having to explain himself by the door of Jay's room creaking open and a human nurse – blonde, short, maybe about thirty – poked her head out.

"Hello? You may see Mr. Walker now Miss..." the nurse saw Lloyd's red face, then the green suit, and nearly fainted. Nya could tell what she was thinking:

_OH-MY-GOSH-THE-GREEN-NINJA-IS-HERE. _

It was a very weird thought for a thirty-something year old having a crush on a teenager, but she brushed it off. She would be allowed to see Jay, and that was cause for celebration. Taking a breath, the Samurai stood and walked forward towards the door.

* * *

**I AM SO SO SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING SOONER! I had writers block, and when I finally got around to writing this I got banned from my computer. But I haven't forgotten this story, not at all! :) **

**I shall be getting more frequent here, maybe two to three chapters a week? I dunno. I'll attempt it. My school has a four-day-weekend, so I might even get four chapters! :D  
**

**Hear about the new Season of Ninjago, by the way? The sets look awesome, and there's a rumor that the whole love triangle will be resolved. I hope it ends favorably for Jay and Nya... Hisss...**


	5. Five

**Okay, I wrote one chapter today, but decided to divide into two, one from Jay's POV and the other from Nya's. I like one point of view per chapter, and I'll only do switching around if I need to. I'm also releasing both chappies at the same time :D**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Jay looked up as the door of his hospital room creaked open. The loud noise sent a tingle down his spine; one of the medical droids had told him that it would for a while, until he got better. It had explained why, something to do with his electrical powers, but he didn't remember the exact words.

But that really didn't matter now, because of who entered the room. Nya was dressed in her usual dress, and as far as he could tell no makeup or anything. Her hair hadn't been combed well. But she was still beautiful.

"Nya!" he exclaimed, jolting upright. The pain in his stomach flared up and he winced. He slouched down a little, and when the pain refused to alleviate, he laid down completely and raised his head. "You're here..."

"Oh my gosh," Nya gasped, probably seeing all of the monitors glowing and nurses rushing around the large space. She rushed to him, but one of the droids trundled in front of her. The Samurai barely stopped before she tripped.

"Do I look bad?" Jay asked, his brow creasing. "Is it the - "

"Please do not agitate the patient more, Miss," the nurse said in a cold, flat monotone. Jay watched as Nya stood up straight and crossed her arms over her chest.

_I'm still in bad shape? Really? _

"I was told I was allowed to come in here," she protested, scowling. "And I've been waiting for days. I think I have a _right_ to be excited."

"I am sorry, but you are agitating Mr. Walker," the droid replied. Jay thought if a robot could be patient, this one was losing it. "Please do not come any closer." She took one of the monitors and swiveled it to face his girlfriend. He couldn't see it, but Jay assumed that it had some graphs or something. "As you can see, his vitals signs and other statistics are deviating from their course of recovery."

"This isn't about numbers!" Nya snapped, her cheeks getting red. "This about family!"

_She's certainly cute when she gets agitated... _He shook his head to clear his thoughts. He wished he could step in on her side, but the droid was stubborn. And he was in no state for arguing. Thankfully, one of the human nurses that had the name of Leah on her name thing, did it for him.

"N-Six-Two," she said coolly. "This young lady has been waiting a long time. Please let her see her... friend."

'Friend' was a bit of an understatement, Jay mused as he closed his eyes. But he supposed that was as much as the droid could comprehend in the area of emotions. P.I.X.A.L hadn't felt anything but a cold sense of duty to Cyrus Borg before Zane had given her his power source.

"Very well," N-Six-Two said, still the same droning tone. She trundled to one of the small monitors in the wall that did something; he didn't know what it was.

As soon as it was out of the way, Nya jumped towards him and knelt at the side of his bed. She placed a hand gently on his forehead to push the hair from his eyes. "Oh, Jay," she murmured, staring into his eyes. His face flushed crimson.

"How's everything?" Jay asked, his voice weak. _Cole had better not be mad. He got what he deserved. _He kept telling himself that, although he was surprised he felt a bit sorry for his brother. _Don't go soft on him. He tried to steal my girl. _

Nya sighed. "Everything is tense. Cole is always in the bridge. Kai's trying to cheer everyone up and Lloyd is flirting with P.I.X.A.L."

"Flirting?"

"Yeah."

"I hope..." The stitches in his abdomen caused him to wince as he sat up. This time he forced himself to stay that way.

"You hope what?" Nya asked, tilting her head slightly. She placed her hand on top of his own, which was resting limply on his blanket.

"Nevermind."

They were there in silence forever. Maybe a couple seconds. He had no clue. But he was glad just to be in her presence.

"Miss, there is someone outside to see you," N-Six-Two said. "He says that it is urgent."

Jay scowled up at the droid, but Nya stood up obediently. "Is it my friends?" she asked.

"Yes, Miss.

Nya turned back to Jay and leaned down, pressing her lips to his forehead. "I'll go and check it out, then come right back," she whispered. She straightened, then headed out.

As soon as she left, Jay felt a subtle amount of fear enter the room. The nurses who had once been quietly working were now talking in hushed tones, and the droids seemed to be... shutting things down? That was odd.

"Nurse?" he called to Leah. She was by the door, talking with apparent agitation to a droid. "What's going on?"

The nurse flashed a quick towards him, then back at the droid, then back to him. After a couple seconds of hesitation, she walked stiffly over to him.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Walker," she said. "There are some people outside who want you." Jay's brow furrowed. _My parents? But... they wouldn't cause this much trouble at a hospital. And the only other people who would care are my friends... _

"Who?" he asked. "My parents?"

"No... they are... um..." Leah seemed unable to finish the sentence. That increased his worry even more. He decided to prompt her a bit.

"They are..." The nurse closed her eyes and exhaled, then responded in a low tone.

"Dragons. Big, huge, dragon warriors."

The temperature of the room seemed to decrease. The color drained from Jay's face, and the pain in his abdomen magnified.

"What do they want?" he asked, nearly squeaking with shock.

"They want you. And the Green Ninja. Otherwise... they burn down this hospital."

Jay opened his mouth, speechless. He was saved from making a response by the door opening and Nya entering with P.I.X.A.L and Lloyd behind her. All three of them looked grim.

"We've got to get you out of here," Lloyd said, walking over to them briskly. There was a small introduction where Leah told them her name, but Lloyd had the air of someone who really didn't care about formalities. "This place has a helipad, right?"

Leah nodded. "There are three: two over here and another on the other end of the compound. All three of the choppers are out, though." Nya's eyes rounded with fear, and she sat down on the edge of his bed.

"I will call one in," P.I.X.A.L said, heading over to a monitor and tapping a few buttons.

"Ma'am, all the systems are shut down," Leah told her apologetically. "Password lock."

"Please stand back." The former assistant ignored her. P.I.X.A.L said something into the computer, then turned back to them. "A helicopter will be arriving in nine minutes."

The next seven minutes were agonizing. Nya spent some of the time sitting with him, holding his hand or running her own through his hair. Leah was sending droids and humans out of the room in pairs or by themselves. Lloyd was standing next to the door, occasionally peeking out to the waiting room and his face getting more anxious every time he did. P.I.X.A.L stayed by the computer, murmuring into it or typing quickly.

"Is the helicopter here?" Jay asked several times, but no one replied. Everyone just got more worried.

After probably the tenth time Lloyd looked out, he had news. Bad, of course. Just Jay's luck.

"Dragons are starting to move up the stairs. They're getting impatient..."

"Are they holding us ransom?" Leah asked pensively, clasping her hands behind her back as she paced the room.

"It seems like it."

It got a whole lot colder after that, and everyone talked less.

Finally, P.I.X.A.L spoke. "Our transport is here. We will have to be discreet in making our way to the helipad." All of them nodded, and Jay's stomach turned. _Last time we fought I got stabbed. What if I get killed. What happens to the others? I can't afford to make the team lose another. _He forced himself to focus on living. And getting well enough to fight another day.

"How do we carry Jay?" Nya asked, standing up. "A gurney? Stretcher?"

"It would be quickest and quietest if someone carried him," Leah admitted. "It might be a bit - "

"I can walk!" Jay exclaimed, pushing his sheets off him. He looked down at his stomach, and it nearly flipped again. He was wearing thin hospital garments, but there was blood stained on the teal color. Then he shook his head. _I can walk. _With trembling legs, he slid off the bed and attempted to stand.

His knees buckled, and Lloyd was swiftly at his side to keep him up. "You can limp," he corrected. "You'll need help. The nurse is right; we'll have to carry you."

Jay could only feel comfortable if Nya was carrying him, but that would still be very awkward; shouldn't it be the other way around? He shook his head once again. "I'll walk." He stood up shakily and took a few steps. Better.

Nya came to his side and linked their arms. "We can walk _together_."

Leah took the lead as they headed out to the waiting room, holding a clipboard and pen. Lloyd followed, his duel gold katanas in his hands. Jay and Nya were behind, and P.I.X.A.L took the rear.

"Where is the exit to the helipad?" Jay hissed quietly to Leah. The nurse paused in her walking but did not turn around.

"There's a hatch in the roof on the bridge," she told him.

"Bridge?"

"It connects two wards and goes above the lobby. It's not very far." She raised a hand to point towards the bridge: a strip of the second floor walled off by glass, leading from their side to another. "It's near the stairs though, and that's where the dragons are. We have to be quick."

They began again, faster this time. Jay was filled with dread as he saw the spines of the dragons on the stairwell. They would have only a couple of seconds to be unnoticed...

Those couple of seconds passed quickly. The head of a dragon popped up at the top of the steps, and it opened it's long jaws in a roar. "The ninja! The prophesied ones!"

_For the love of... _"Run!" Jay yelled. They did.

Nya began to drag him along, nearly overtaking Leah. Lloyd now took the rear as he blocked the barrage of missiles: shurikens, kunais, and shards of glass. The began to cross the bridge, ducking as they raced forward.

The square hatch, no more than two feet wide, was in the center of the walkway. They reached it in less than fifteen seconds. P.I.X.A.L pressed a button on a control panel, connected to the railing of the bridge. The hatch swung open automatically and a rope ladder came down.

"How is Jay supposed to climb that?" Lloyd asked, dismayed.

"I can do it," Jay snapped, unlocking his arm from Nya's He reached up and grasped the second rung tightly, and began to climb. His palms were sweaty, making it hard to keep a firm hold on the ladder. It swung precariously, and he had to dodge projectiles as he made his way up. A few threatened to snap the thin cords. It was short, though, and he found himself on the roof before he knew it. Nya followed, then Leah, P.I.X.A.L, and lastly Lloyd.

_That was harder than I thought, _Jay admitted to himself, then turned to see the helicopter. It was a small, sleek black-and-purple chopper that reminded him painfully of the dragons down below.

"Hurry!" Leah cried, running forward. Jay tripped his way after her with Nya. The helicopter had a wide bay, obviously for carrying multiple ill or sick passengers. "There's a drone driver; we don't have to worry about piloting."

"Get Jay into the operating cabin," Nya ordered, immediately taking charge of the situation. "Those dragons will be here soon, and we need to be taking off." P.I.X.A.L and Leah took his shoulders and maneuvered him through a rather narrow hatch and into a small berth, where a table, some computer screens, and surgical equipment

"P.I.X.A.L, please get him strapped in. We have to make sure he's secure for the ride."

'Ride' made it sound like they were at Mega Monster Amusement Park. Jay had taken Nya there once on a make-up for their first date. It had actually gone down pretty well, except that he threw up halfway through one of the newest rides at the park, the Ring of Fire. Some genius had seen Jay reach his true potential while saving Nya and made a water ride based on that event. Riders were in couples, with as many as six cars going at a time.

This, though, was certainly not supposed to be fun.

They got him secured with seat belt-like straps and covered him with a few thin sheets, presumably to keep him warm. Both left the cabin. Then the chopper began to rise. Jay could tell because of the terrible jerk and the loud noise of propellers. Then they began forwards in a burst of energy and flame from the engines. Jay clutched at his blankets, closing his eyes. When he was able to move around in the air, he was fine. But he was strapped in and dependent on other people for help. He hated helplessness. But he was trapped.

_I hate these dragons. I really, really do. Why couldn't they be nice dragons? Like Whisp? Rocky? Shard? Flame? Heck, Lloyd's golden thing. No, they have to be murderous thugs bent on capturing us. _

_ Well done, First Spinjitzu Master. Well done. _

In the main cabin, things were not going well. Leah had reported that Jay was strapped in, but P.I.X.A.L's scanners were picking up dragon life signatures following them. By now, they were above downtown Ninjago; it was still being rebuilt. Mass panic would be spreading if anyone saw them or their enemies. They would have to get above the land outside of the city: the desert.

"How many of them are there?" Lloyd asked, looking up from the chair he was sitting in. It was a swiveling one, right in the center of the room. He was spinning around and looking concerned.

"At least twenty," P.I.X.A.L said. "I recommend we move to a less populated area."

"Already doing that," Leah said, coming from the cockpit. "I spoke to the pilot and it said that we'd be moving to the desert within five minutes."

A rumble shook the chopper, and heat could be felt from the open windows, high in the hull of the aircraft. Fire.

"Either that's Kai or..." Nya began, getting up to check the outside.

"Or they're fire-breathing dragons," Lloyd growled, standing and brandishing his katana. "We have to fight 'em off."

"No!" Leah gasped. Both Nya and Lloyd looked at her, eyebrows raised. "I-I'm sorry," she said, regaining her composure. "I just think that if we can get away without violence..."

"We'll try it," Lloyd assured her. " P.I.X.A.L, what's our chances of getting into the desert without a battle?"

"In simple terms?" the android asked. "Chances are extremely slim. I recommend you attack first."

All three of them glanced at Leah. The nurse was hyperventilating. Sweat was beginning to drip from her forehead.

Nya realized that this poor woman was not used to violence of any kind. The whole team, Jay, Kai, Cole, P.I.X.A.L, Zane, Lloyd, Sensei and Garmadon, and even herself, had been conditioned to fighting from years of battles. Leah was a simple hospital nurse who was used to healing wounds, not inflicting them. They would have to consider her in whatever decisions they made from here on out.

"We don't fight," Nya decided. "Yet. Lets get to the desert first, then try and figure it out from there."

Thankfully no one argued with her choice, but the Green Ninja looked a bit skeptical. She would tell him her reasoning later. As P.I.X.A.L went in to talk to the pilot, Nya glanced out the window. The heat of the flames was lessened, but...

She noticed something in the sky. They were small dots or specks in the air. She didn't think of them for another few moments, but then she realized:

Those black specks in the sky moving towards them.

It hit her later than she would have liked.

"Duck! Everyone duck!" she screamed, hitting the ground. The others followed suit a split second after.

Jets of flame shot through the portholes, filling the cabin with fire. Nya had never felt something so hot in her life. Sure, she'd been stuck with Kai as her older brother, but the fire he created was _warm_, not searing.

Everything around her seemed to be blurred and out of sync. Leah was screaming, but it was distant to her ears. Lloyd was trying to beat back the flames with his Green Power, and failing. Something was crawling up her arm, something hot, heading towards her shoulder -

"Nya!"

Was that Jay? It sounded like him... But wasn't he in the back...

Jay leaped on top of her, smothering the fire all over her arms. He pinned her to the ground. Both of them were breathing hard, and perspiration was pouring from the Lightning ninja's face.

"Jay!" Nya exclaimed, placing her shaking hands on his chest. The moment would have been _very_ romantic if they weren't being attacked, and she blushed despite herself. "How..." she found herself gasping for air before each word. "How did you get out?"

"The soundproofing isn't very good," he replied, his voice unusually quiet. "I heard all of the shouting and broke the restraints..."

Of course. He was a ninja, and even though he was far from being the strongest on the team, he was very capable.

"Lovebirds, it's really nice you two are back together, it really is, but please, I NEED HELP NOW!" Lloyd yelled over the dragon-fire.

"S-sorry!" Jay replied, pushing himself up and onto his knees. He crawled over to where Lloyd was. "Lloyd! Spinjitzu!"

"But we could tear apart the entire plane!" he responded, finally breaking to the relentless stream of fire. "I don't want to take the risk!"

"It's either that or we burn to death!" Jay shot back. "Now or never, Lloyd!"

"Fine."

Nya watched from her position the floor. They would have to be on their feet and spinning in less than a second. If not, there would be two baked ninja.

"Three!" Lloyd shouted. "Two..."

"One! Ninja-GO!" The two ninja leaped to their feet...

Nya breathed a sigh of relief as they transformed into whirlwinds, one green and the other blue. Lightning crackled as they spun into the flames, and it began to beat back the fire, towards the hull of the chopper.

"P.I.X.A.L!" Nya yelled frantically. The entire effort would be in vain if they could not push the fire out. "Open the side!" The entire side of the helicopter could open up as a large entryway. She hoped the android could hear her...

With a loud grating sound that hurt to hear, the left side of the helicopter slid open. At once the crackling flames blew out into the sky. The heat that had been so painful dissipated. The two Spinjitzu tornadoes broke apart. Jay was flung towards the cockpit, but Lloyd slid across the floor and rolled out of the cabin.

"Lloyd!" Jay yelled. The Green Ninja was hanging on by one hand to the edge. Fire was blowing at him in quick concentrated bursts. He leaped over and reached for his hand.

"Leah!" Nya called to the nurse who was cowering in the entrance to the medical berth. "We need help!"

"I-I can't!" she replied. "It's too...too..."

"Lloyd will fall if you don't help us!" Nya crawled over to Jay and grabbed his ankles, enabling him to slide out and grab his teammates other hand. "Just grab my ankles and make sure I don't get dragged down!"

The nurse hesitantly laid down and reached her arms and wrapped her fingers around Nya's boots.

"That's it...Just hold on..." Jay was leaning out of the plane – no small feat with his injury threatening to tear open – to get the Green Ninja's other arm.

_Everything's fine... Oh, no. _Nya looked up with terror as a small dragon swooped inside of the cabin. It had a sai, still bloody from an apparent earlier fight. _That's the one that stabbed Jay! _Anger welled up inside her, but she had to keep under control. For now.

Then everything went wrong. The little monster lowered itself with it's wings and grabbed Leah's legs. It dragged her up, screaming, then fluttered out of the chopper. Nya felt herself being lifted up.

Then the rush of wind and the hot desert air hit her. She could see the others falling, falling, falling. The ground was rushing up towards them -

Then they hit the ground.


	6. Six

**Okay, next chapter. I don't think this is my best work, but this is the best I could do at the moment. The next chapter will be up maybe tomorrow, or perhaps Monday. **

* * *

In the main cabin, things were not going well. Leah had reported that Jay was strapped in, but P.I.X.A.L's scanners were picking up dragon life signatures following them. By now, they were above downtown Ninjago; it was still being rebuilt. Mass panic would be spreading if anyone saw them or their enemies. They would have to get above the land outside of the city: the desert.

"How many of them are there?" Lloyd asked, looking up from the chair he was sitting in. It was a swiveling one, right in the center of the room. He was spinning around and looking concerned.

"At least twenty," P.I.X.A.L said. "I recommend we move to a less populated area."

"Already doing that," Leah said, coming from the cockpit. "I spoke to the pilot and it said that we'd be moving to the desert within five minutes."

A rumble shook the chopper, and heat could be felt from the open windows, high in the hull of the aircraft. Fire.

"Either that's Kai or..." Nya began, getting up to check the outside.

"Or they're fire-breathing dragons," Lloyd growled, standing and brandishing his katana. "We have to fight 'em off."

"No!" Leah gasped. Both Nya and Lloyd looked at her, eyebrows raised. "I-I'm sorry," she said, regaining her composure. "I just think that if we can get away without violence..."

"We'll try it," Lloyd assured her. " P.I.X.A.L, what's our chances of getting into the desert without a battle?"

"In simple terms?" the android asked. "Chances are extremely slim. I recommend you attack first."

All three of them glanced at Leah. The nurse was hyperventilating. Sweat was beginning to drip from her forehead.

Nya realized that this poor woman was not used to violence of any kind. The whole team, Jay, Kai, Cole, P.I.X.A.L, Zane, Lloyd, Sensei and Garmadon, and even herself, had been conditioned to fighting from years of battles. Leah was a simple hospital nurse who was used to healing wounds, not inflicting them. They would have to consider her in whatever decisions they made from here on out.

"We don't fight," Nya decided. "Yet. Lets get to the desert first, then try and figure it out from there."

Thankfully no one argued with her choice, but the Green Ninja looked a bit skeptical. She would tell him her reasoning later. As P.I.X.A.L went in to talk to the pilot, Nya glanced out the window. The heat of the flames was lessened, but...

She noticed something in the sky. They were small dots or specks in the air. She didn't think of them for another few moments, but then she realized:

Those black specks in the sky moving towards them.

It hit her later than she would have liked.

"Duck! Everyone duck!" she screamed, hitting the ground. The others followed suit a split second after.

Jets of flame shot through the portholes, filling the cabin with fire. Nya had never felt something so hot in her life. Sure, she'd been stuck with Kai as her older brother, but the fire he created was _warm_, not searing.

Everything around her seemed to be blurred and out of sync. Leah was screaming, but it was distant to her ears. Lloyd was trying to beat back the flames with his Green Power, and failing. Something was crawling up her arm, something hot, heading towards her shoulder -

"Nya!"

Was that Jay? It sounded like him... But wasn't he in the back...

Jay leaped on top of her, smothering the fire all over her arms. He pinned her to the ground. Both of them were breathing hard, and perspiration was pouring from the Lightning ninja's face.

"Jay!" Nya exclaimed, placing her shaking hands on his chest. The moment would have been _very_ romantic if they weren't being attacked, and she blushed despite herself. "How..." she found herself gasping for air before each word. "How did you get out?"

"The soundproofing isn't very good," he replied, his voice unusually quiet. "I heard all of the shouting and broke the restraints..."

Of course. He was a ninja, and even though he was far from being the strongest on the team, he was very capable.

"Lovebirds, it's really nice you two are back together, it really is, but please, I NEED HELP NOW!" Lloyd yelled over the dragon-fire.

"S-sorry!" Jay replied, pushing himself up and onto his knees. He crawled over to where Lloyd was. "Lloyd! Spinjitzu!"

"But we could tear apart the entire plane!" he responded, finally breaking to the relentless stream of fire. "I don't want to take the risk!"

"It's either that or we burn to death!" Jay shot back. "Now or never, Lloyd!"

"Fine."

Nya watched from her position the floor. They would have to be on their feet and spinning in less than a second. If not, there would be two baked ninja.

"Three!" Lloyd shouted. "Two..."

"One! Ninja-GO!" The two ninja leaped to their feet...

Nya breathed a sigh of relief as they transformed into whirlwinds, one green and the other blue. Lightning crackled as they spun into the flames, and it began to beat back the fire, towards the hull of the chopper.

"P.I.X.A.L!" Nya yelled frantically. The entire effort would be in vain if they could not push the fire out. "Open the side!" The entire side of the helicopter could open up as a large entryway. She hoped the android could hear her...

With a loud grating sound that hurt to hear, the left side of the helicopter slid open. At once the crackling flames blew out into the sky. The heat that had been so painful dissipated. The two Spinjitzu tornadoes broke apart. Jay was flung towards the cockpit, but Lloyd slid across the floor and rolled out of the cabin.

"Lloyd!" Jay yelled. The Green Ninja was hanging on by one hand to the edge. Fire was blowing at him in quick concentrated bursts. He leaped over and reached for his hand.

"Leah!" Nya called to the nurse who was cowering in the entrance to the medical berth. "We need help!"

"I-I can't!" she replied. "It's too...too..."

"Lloyd will fall if you don't help us!" Nya crawled over to Jay and grabbed his ankles, enabling him to slide out and grab his teammates other hand. "Just grab my ankles and make sure I don't get dragged down!"

The nurse hesitantly laid down and reached her arms and wrapped her fingers around Nya's boots.

"That's it...Just hold on..." Jay was leaning out of the plane – no small feat with his injury threatening to tear open – to get the Green Ninja's other arm.

_Everything's fine... Oh, no. _Nya looked up with terror as a small dragon swooped inside of the cabin. It had a sai, still bloody from an apparent earlier fight. _That's the one that stabbed Jay! _Anger welled up inside her, but she had to keep under control. For now.

Then everything went wrong. The little monster lowered itself with it's wings and grabbed Leah's legs. It dragged her up, screaming, then fluttered out of the chopper. Nya felt herself being lifted up.

Then the rush of wind and the hot desert air hit her. She could see the others falling, falling, falling. The ground was rushing up towards them -

Then they hit the ground.


	7. Seven

**There are several nautical terms in this chapter and in the next few; Here is a list of them all so you won't get confused. **

**Accommodation Ladder- A ladder on the side of the ship. **

**Archboard- A board where the name of the ship is written. **

**Deck- The floor of the ship. **

**Belowdecks-**_ I am not sure that this is a legitimate boating term, but I've seen it in several books and movies, so I like to use it. _

**The decks beneath the main deck, mainly used for crew hammocks and storage. **

**Fantail- The part of a ship towards the back where the wheel is. Also called the poop deck. **

**Port- A dock or pier, sometimes with a town and places for ships to restock their provisions. **

**Crow's Nest- The place where a lookout would stand on the mast.**

**Moor- Dock **

**Port Side- The left side of the ship. Called port because ships came into port on the left side. **

**Starboard- The right side. **

**Bow- Front of the ship.**

**Stern- Back of the ship.**

* * *

The only reason Nya lived through the fall was because Jay nearly died.

As they hurtled through the air, Jay flipped himself around to catch her. The Samurai was touched by his willingness to get himself killed for her sake, but she did not _want_ him to die for her. He was still in his hospital livery and blood was pouring from the wound with sickening speed. As the ground came closer and closer, the Samurai literally fell into his arms. He wrapped them protectively around her chest. She didn't realize what he was doing until the earth was only a hundred feet away from the earth: he was breaking her fall.

"Jay!" she screamed, trying to push him away. His spine would break – he'd be gone for sure. Either he didn't hear her over the deafening wind, or he didn't care what she said or did, which was more likely. She struggled to break away from him. If Jay didn't have to focus on keeping her alive then he could save himself -

Two things happened at once. The first was that the helicopter burst into flame, becoming a purple-orange blaze in the sky. The second was they hit the ground.

Lloyd landed on his feet with a cry of shock and pain. Next was Jay, who knew was he was doing, to her surprise. Two or three feet above the ground he let fly a blast of electricity, stopping them for one moment before they dropped onto the sand with a thud.

All three of them were breathing loud and hard. Nya had raised her hands to grasp Jay's with her eyes squeezed shut.

_Leah. _

_ And P.I.X.A.L. _

_ Where are they? P.I.X.A.L can't be dead. But the chopper is on fire... _

And Leah... oh Leah. She had to be dead. If Lloyd wasn't carrying her, then she was gone. The finality struck her like a blow to the head from a club. The nurse from Ninjago General had seemed like a good person, if a little cowardly. _We have to find her body... if there is one. _The Samurai knew that when someone hit the ground from a high place, it was like slamming into cement: splattering.

"Nya..." Jay mumbled into her ear. She opened her eyes and tilted her head towards his. She caught a sight of his face. It was pale, and his hair was pushed off his forehead. His eyes were half closed and while there was a gleam of pain, there was also cheekiness, which assured her that he'd be okay. "You can't get rid of me. I'll always be here to..." he grunted with discomfort as he tried to sit up on the hot ground. "Protect you."

"I can protect myself," she replied softly, flipping around so she was laying on top of him and jabbed two fingers lightly into his chest.

A sound of annoyance from Lloyd made both of them turn their heads. He was laying awkwardly on on arm, trying to keep his legs from touching sand. "Yeah, please stop cuddling in public," he told them, only half-serious. "It gets uncomfortable."

"We aren't 'cuddling'," Jay muttered, but he did unlock his arms from around Nya to let her get off. She stood up and dusted the light coating of sand from her red dress. Jay got to his feet. He took a few steps forward, then toppled over, wheezing.

Nya immediately dropped to one knee and examined his clothes, running her hand over his torso. When she saw his abdomen, her own stomach took a turn for the worse, and she had to turn away to wretch. She forced herself to raise his shirt up a little to see the full extent of his wound.

The tear had been opened up completely, revealing a sickening amount of her Ninja's insides. Blood wasn't gushing, but a good amount was trickling out onto the golden sands. There was a sickly white rim around it; this was the worst injury she'd ever seen.

"Lloyd!" Nya yelped, turning her head frantically to the Green Ninja. He had rolled onto his stomach by this point and was attempting – miserably – to stand. "Lloyd, can you walk?" It was a silly question, she knew, but Jay's wound was much more serious than Lloyd's broken ankles.

"Sure, sure," he responded, sarcasm heavy in his voice. "Just landed from thousands of feet above the ground on my feet; yes, I've never been better..."

"I'm serious!" Nya snapped. "Jay is..." her voice faltered. "Bad. Really, really bad."

"How do you mean?"

"His wound..." Her voice took a panicky edge that she fought to control. "We need to get him to help, fast."

The Green Ninja crawled over to her. He wrinkled his nose as he edged towards the fallen Ninja. "Blood stinks," he muttered. "Yeah, I can tell what's wrong. But I can't walk."

"Then what do we do?" Nya asked, falling back onto the ground, her legs crossed and her hands fiddling with the sand. "Wait here? Wait for him to die? Wait for the dragons to come back and hunt for survivors?" Her hopelessness spilled out like the sand she was lifting up and pouring back onto the ground. "Unless we get help, or go to help, Lloyd, we're dead." They were far from Ninjago City; only the outline of large, shadowing skyscrapers was visible on the horizon. No help could come from there.

The finality of the statement began to sink in. The Green Ninja stared off into the distant, his eyes clouded, while Nya laid down besides Jay's limp form, her head resting on his chest, weakly rising and falling. She closed her eyes, thinking how terrible the smell of blood was as it came to her nose.

Leah and P.I.X.A.L were dead. Jay was dying. Lloyd was injured and Nya herself was drained of all hope. Things had gone from bad to worse in less than a week.

It was nightfall before Nya woke up and saw the lights coming from across the desert. She raised her head from her boyfriend's chest – miraculously still rising and falling rhythmically, and thought she was hallucinating. But the lights kept coming: yellow with some blemish as the circular beams hit the sandy surface of the desert. It was obviously coming from a searchlight or lantern. Nya leaned over to where Lloyd was sleeping, curled up with his head on his folded hands and punched him lightly in the shoulder. The blonde haired boy glanced up.

"What?" he hissed. "It's nighttime. Is Jay - "

"Be quiet." Nya glanced again towards the light. "Someone's coming and they might not be friendly."

By now it was obviously too late to sneak away, so the three of them waited there until the spotlight was on them, staring into it like a trapped deer. Through the pale transparency, Nya could catch a glimpse of...

Several moving figures, all humanoid, and a short mast.

_Great, a flying ship. Borg should have been a bit more wary about leaving his toys around. _During and after the Nindroid invasion, Cyrus Borg's tech had been widespread over Ninjago. Some more valuable parts – helicopter parts, nindroid vehicles, and weaponry had been scattered in the badlands. Groups of scavengers came together and swept the area, looking for loot to trade and sell. With any luck, this would be one of the more decent Salvage Crews, as they were called in the city. There were some that did unsavory things to unsuspecting travelers.

"Who goes there?" A reptilian voice called through the darkness.

"Just some people trapped out in the desert," Lloyd replied, cupping his hands around his mouth to amplify his voice. "We could use a lift."

The sound of crunching sand and a couple sets of footsteps forced Nya to make a choice: did they attempt to warn them off, or get taken onboard the scavenger's ship?

The latter, she grudgingly decided. A fight could end Jay's life and the ship might have medical supplies.

A pale human with a wispy beard stepped into the light, followed by a shorter man wearing simple overalls and a leather vest came after, and taking the rear was a Hypnobrai with one eye crossed with scars. All were carrying an assortment of knives and pickaxes. They seemed more like pirates than a group of simple merchants, which put her more on edge.

_ Calm down, Nya. _She told herself. _It's rough out in the badlands. They probably need protection... _

With her fears squashed down for now, she met each of their gazes evenly, and didn't like the way that shorter man glanced at her. Creep, she thought.

"Well, well. A ninja – the Green Ninja, I might add – , a nice little lady, and... ooh, what happened to this poor fellow?" The first man asked. His voice was rough, but pleasant enough, and had a friendly tone.

"Thugs are bad out here," Nya told him coolly. Better he not know about the dragons, just in case. "We got him to a hospital, but they turned us out when the learned that those bandits were the ones who stabbed him. Those guys rule the region towards the east." It was true; there were gangs out there who banded together to fight of Nindroids, and now that they were gone they roamed the eastern parts of Ninjago pillaging.

"Indeed," the man said. "Well, lovely." She didn't like the way he said that, not at all. "I'm Capt'n Copper, of this humble Salvage Crew. Would ye like us to transport you to the city?"

"We'd love that, thanks." It was Lloyd who answered, much to Nya's irritation. Sure, he was Ninjago's savior and the most powerful Ninja since the First Spinjitzu Master, but sometimes he had the logic and reasoning of a six year old... which, of course, he was in reality.

"We 'ave to stop off near a port to get fuel first, but we can be back 'ere by sunrise," Copper assured them, reaching out a hand for Nya to stand. She nodded towards Lloyd.

"Help him. He's got some broken ankles." Copper narrowed his eyes at her and moved to help up Lloyd.

The captain turned to the Hypnobrai. "Cobar, get a stretcher from the hold. We've got a seriously wounded fella here." The Serpentine nodded and darted away to the ship. The shorter man that she thought was a creep came to her and graciously helped her up. His eyes were more snakelike than Cobar's, which made her more nervous than she already was. They came to the side of the ship, which was surprisingly well-kept for scavengers who usually cared more for the junk they collected than the ships they used to transport it. They climbed up an accommodation ladder and onto the deck. As they climbed, Nya caught a glimpse of the ship's name on the archboard: The _Glider's Wings_. An odd name for a ship, she thought, but put it past her.

The deck was made of a mix of wood and metal. There were several cannons tied down to the deck, even stranger for scavengers. She was more wary every moment she was aboard his vessel.

Captain Copper went out with Cobar to get Jay as blankets were given to Lloyd and Nya. She wrapped the rough cloth around her shoulders and took a perch on a crate next to the rail.

A few minutes later, the Serpentine and Captain Copper came on board, carrying the Lightning Ninja on a hover stretcher. They carried him belowdecks, with her eyes boring into their backs the whole way.

_If they do anything to him, and he dies, they will _all_ end up with knives in their backs. _

"Alright, men!" Copper bellowed as he walked up the stairs, a swagger in his walk. "Prepare to tack! I want Ninjago City astern. Kain!" He called to a man up by the wheel, on the fantail. He had a circular metal shaft to serve as a peg leg, and a mechanical eye in the left socket. "We're heading for Port Temperance!"

"Port Temperance?" Nya asked out loud, her tone incredulous. "That's nearly thirty miles away! You said that we'd be back by sunrise."

"And we shall, my dear," Copper assured her, stepping lightly towards the bow of the ship. "That'a be the closest refueling station near here. Would you prefer Dragonsmouth?" Dragonsmouth was another port, three hundred miles to the south of them. They had stopped in both Temperance and Dragonsmouth while fighting the Serpentine, and it was once a pinnacle of excellence in sailing, but now a sleazy port town.

"We'll go to Temperance," Nya conceded, glaring quickly at Lloyd. If he hadn't been so quick to accept the offer of a lift, they wouldn't have to back track nearly a day or more. Jay might get worse in that time.

One of the crew-members brought them some warm drinks in big wooden flagons: rum. This place was getting to be more and more of a pirate ship every time she looked up. She took a sip, frowning at the strong, bitter taste and settled down in the blankets, brought down with all her current woes.

* * *

By sunrise, Ninjago City had disappeared over the horizon and the ocean was visible off the bow. Nya was sitting on the same crate, gazing around the ship. A reprogrammed Nindroid was on the fantail (because the ship was not big enough for a crow's nest) with it's enhanced eyes. As she watched him like a falcon, he let out a cry.

"Port Temperance, off the bow!" he called with a flat monotone that reminded her all too much of the recent events.

Kain and Copper looked up from a somewhat heated discussion in the front of the ship. Kain's facial expression and Copper's body language showed that they were disagreeing, and probably on something major. Kain crossed his arms over his chest.

"Then prepare to moor alongside the pier. Jett, Rocks, get the ropes ready," Copper ordered, leaning on the rail on the port side of the ship. "Miss, would you and your companions like to stretch ye legs a bit in port? We'll be a'pickin' up some medical supplies for your friends and visiting the healer in town."

"I'd like that," Nya said, offering nothing but calm in her tone. She stood up and walked stiffly walked to the stairs leading belowdecks to check out the surgeon's cabin, where Jay was lain. Lloyd was leaning by the bedside, gripping his friend's hand in a comradely manner. Nya looked over the Lightning Ninja; he was breathing peacefully, not at all like the ragged and unsteady pattern of the night before. The stability of the ship and the treatment he'd gotten had to have helped.

"The doc is out," Lloyd said, looking up. His face looked drawn and pale, and his eyes were bloodshot. Nya realized that he had been crying. For P.I.X.A.L? Leah? She would pursue this later, but right now, she had to tell him they were readying to dock.

"We're pulling into port," she said quietly. "Get ready to go." He nodded grimly.

"Is Jay coming?"

"We're all going," she replied. "Come on."

* * *

**I meant to post this last night but I got super tired, then booted off my computer. So here it is. Yay. **

**Next chapter should be longer. There will be a couple of twists, blah blah. I have to do my homework now... Heheh... Um... **

**Bye! **


	8. Eight

**I feel sick and tired lately because of... **

**I really have no idea. Anyway, I only did the base editing for this chapter, so if you see a giant blaring grammar error that must be changed or the entire fundamental meaning of everything ever is changed, PM me about it! **

**Enjoy! **

* * *

Kai felt extremely conspicuous in his bright red Ninja suit, a long katana in hand that he'd made himself. Beside him, Cole was enveloped in shadows with two talons strapped to his hands. They were an creation of Jay's, for stabbing and slicing. When a nice scythe was not available to the Earth Ninja, he used those.

The two Ninja hung suspended in air, attached to the roof of the building by grappling cables attached to the roof of the hospital. They were right beneath the giant glass window, only the tops of their heads visible to anyone on the inside. Beneath them, Ninjago City Police and Fire Departments had surrounded the building and had placed it under lockdown. Every building within a ten block radius had been evacuated. No one besides Sensei Wu's trainees knew what was really happening: the cops had been simply told that a vicious gang was holding the hospital hostage.

But the cops had also been told not to engage or enter the compound, leaving the two Ninja to begin tracking down their missing friends.

Nya, Lloyd, and P.I.X.A.L had not returned from visiting Jay last night. After waiting several hours after dark they had left the _Destiny's Bounty_ to begin following their possible trail. Kai narrowed his eyes as he stared into the waiting room they were outside of. A couple of dragons were inside, sitting around a coffee table and playing this horrible board game where they threw marbles down then breathed fire to see how many would burn. From what Kai could gather, they were gambling something. There were about five of them playing the game, one of them standing guard, and one huge dragon wearing a pauldron – probably to denote rank – around his shoulders. That one was leaning in a corner watching the game progress.

One glanced quickly towards the window, and the Fire Ninja ducked quickly to hide his red bandanna. Why did they have to be bright colors? Why not good stealth things like dull black or dull red? Having flashiness was great to mark you out in a battle, but for stealth they were really, really dumb.

"Ready?" he hissed to Cole, drawing a small emergency shuriken from his obi belt. Or, it _looked_ like a shuriken. Cyrus Borg had created some wonderful toys for them to play with and this was one of them. Cole glanced over ever so slightly and nodded, drawing his own star. In unison they pressed a small button in the center of the tiny projectile. As soon as they removed their thumbs a red light began to flare dully. "I'll take the big guy," told the team leader. "Can you take on the other six?"

"Can I?" Cole replied indignantly. "Of course I can!" He rolled his eyes.

"I know, I know. Just making sure..." Cole had been a lot more snappish lately, since Jay and Nya had gone to Jamanakai Village. As Nya's brother he knew exactly what was going on, but he pretended to be the dumb, thick-headed guy who couldn't tell a thing in matters of relationships.

_Stop thinking about that! You've got a mission here. _

_ But Cole's state of mind is important. It could implicate the team. _

_ It can't implicate the team if it helps him fight. _

_ How would this help him fight? _Kai was about to make a snappish reply, then realized that he was having a debate with himself. He raised and eyebrow. _Why are we debating?_

_ I don't know. Why are you - _

There he went again. The voice of himself in his head was just coming back to him. He shook his head, then ducked as a dragon caught the motion in his peripheral vision.

"What are you doing?" Cole growled. "Get ready to open this thing!"

On the back of the shuriken was a suction cup that could easily attach to the thick glass. They stuck them onto the window. Kai smirked as a beeping noise began, signaling that they only had a couple of seconds before the rapid entry charges blew open the window. Kai used his legs to push himself away from the window – five feet, ten feet – then he swung forward as the giant glass window blew open in a plume of blue fire and shards of broken glass. He swung right through the opening the explosives had created, Cole following just seconds behind.

Kai held his katana in a defensive stance, crouching down with his eyes narrowed. The stunned dragons had barely stood up and knocked over their chairs and were now scrambling for weapons.

"Are you sure you want the big guy?" Cole asked, not turning to face his teammate. "I can take him."

"Nah," Kai replied. "I got him."

The "big guy" was the only dragon ready for the attack. As soon as the Ninja had flipped into the room he had a sai and a giant butterfly sword brandished. He was wearing thick armor made of some sort of black metal with leather straps and bandoleers strapped all over. His eyes – well, he only had one eye. The other was completely covered over with scales and scars. When he opened his elongated jaws in a roar, he revealed snaggly but sharp fangs.

"It seems we have _grrag n__ü__l _here!" it spat, pushing his men aside to stand before them. "The _Grrag N__ü__l_!" Whatever a _grrag n__ü__l _was, Kai thought, it was not a good thing to be with these people.

"Surrender!" Cole demanded, raising a talon. "And the interrogation will be less painful."

Kai glanced at his brother. _What interrogation? We were just here to bust some heads and check the records to see if they left. _But disagreeing with Cole would make them seem weak, so he said nothing.

"Ninja-GO!" both Ninja yelled in unison, leaping towards their foes. Kai went straight for the apparent leader of this group. His katana smashed against the butterfly sword as he brought it down. There was no immediate affect, except Kai landing on his feet and realized how short he was compared this this fellow.

The dragon bought the sigh down in a swooping arc towards his unprotected throat. The Red Ninja dropped to the ground and rolled away just in time: the weapon impaled the creature in the thigh. It roared, a harsh guttural noise.

"You coward, _grraj n__ü__l!_" he snarled. "Fight me!"

"You want a fight?" Kai said, exhilarated. He knew he had the advantage in this fight and he planned to use it. He jumped to his feet with his sword in hand and began to press on his opponent with a flurry of blows, forcing the dragon into the corner he'd started off in. The warrior tried to use his sai, but Kai was ready for it. He switched to a one-handed attack and used the other to flick out a rapid entry bomb. The suction cup also worked as a magnet and could be attracted to metal. He let go of it, the red button bleeping as it stuck to the stomach plate of the dragon's armor.

"What is this, _grraj n__ü__l_?" it demanded, kicking him away. Kai landed on a turned over chair with a thud. Slight pain shot through his spine and he barely had time to curl up as the shuriken went _BANG. _

The guts and blood from the once-fearsome creature spun through the air. As soon as it was safe to get up without being hit by disgusting insides Kai flipped over the chair and landed on the ground, next to Cole. He stood up and surveyed his brother's handiwork. Dragons lay dead or dying all over the hospital floor , with purple blood pooling everywhere.

"Good job. Messy, but good," Kai said, sounding if he was only a food critic reviewing a particularly interesting meal.

"I don't see you being any cleaner," Cole shot back, turning and pointing to the bloody remains of the giant dragon in the corner. The smoking ruins couldn't be identified as anything. It could be a pile of garbage someone set alight or a hunk or a pile of firewood. Except, of course, for the stench of burning flesh.

"Well, there's no one left to _interrogate_," Kai muttered. "We've got to find the transportation records to see if anything left the hospital since last night."

"Agre - " Cole was cut off as blue lasers began to break through the glass, shattering what was left from their entrance.

"What's that?!" Kai yelled, dropping to the floor and covering his neck and the back of his head.

"The police! They must have heard us fighting!" Cole shouted back jumping behind a chair. "We gotta get those records, fast."

Sensei Wu was waiting in the _Bounty_. The Ultra Dragon was on standby a few blocks away. If things got bad, they could signal both and make a quick getaway to the Temple of Fortitude. Or perhaps the open desert.

"You hold them off," Kai decided, beginning to crawl towards the railing, several meters away. He would try the lobby. "I'll get the hospital records."

"No, you hold them here! I can find them!" Cole replied, dragging more chairs for cover. Lasers smashed through them. "You have a better chance to doing less damage!"

"What?" Kai sputtered, getting to his feet as soon as he got away from the window's vicinity. "That's the worst lie I've ever heard! I'm already here!" Without waiting for another protest, the Red Ninja dashed away towards the railing and flipped over the glass.

Right into a seething mass of dragon warriors.

Port Temperance was the kind of place Nya would want to go to only if she was allowed to bring several knives, a torch, and her Samurai mech. Unfortunately she had none of these things. The bracelet she used to signal her vehicle was on the _Bounty_. Weapons were not allowed in Ninjago General. And taking a torch from the ship would be stealing.

So she simply crossed her arms over her chest and stood close to Lloyd as they walked briskly behind Copper, the short man, and Cobar, who was carrying jay on a stretcher, staring purposefully ahead as they passed through the busy Port. It was full of merchants and sailors sitting around, drinking for the most part. Men were passed out on the stone ground. Women were dragging some off into buildings. The clanging of metal against metal could be heard, along with the feminine screams of poor unfortunate souls who ended up working in the more unsavory places. And Nya, as a fairly pretty girl (although both Jay and Cole would argue that she was _under_-exaggerating) attracted stares from the men in town. She wished she had some weapons on her belt. Then she could send out a message of _I will stab you if you dare try anything. _

So, she thought, this port was not good in practicing temperance.

"Where are we going?" Lloyd asked, pulling the sleeves of his thin green robe down to cover his hands more. They were farther north and it was getting colder than they were used to.

"Aye, we be headin' to the Tankard," Copper replied, not turning to look at them or even slowing his pace. "We'll leave yer friend with Cobar 'ere and we can go get a drink. Then we refuel and head back to Ninjago City." Nya nodded and glanced around. Her gaze fixed on the North. The masts and sails of several ships could be seen over the two-story buildings of the town. A salty sea air drifted from that direction.

"And where is the Tankard?" Lloyd pressed. This time the short man replied, halting.

"It be at the end of the street," he said, making a slight hissing noise at the _s_. Yep, he was a lot more snakelike than Cobar. He pointed down the road where a rambling three-story wooden house. Smoke was rising from the various chimneys and the sounds of a rambunctious lot came from the open windows and the door.

"Then what are we waiting for?" she asked impatiently, brushing past them and picked up the pace, making a straight course for the tavern. As soon as she stepped in, her nose was bombarded with the smell of alcohol, sweat, and four dozen men pressed together to make a disgusting mix of the three. She raised one hand to cover her nose.

_How does anyone stand this? It's _reeks_. _

Copper and the short guy came in, Lloyd taking the rear. "Where's Jay?" she asked, turning to face them and getting a breath of air.

"Cobar is waiting with him outside," The Green Ninja told her, glancing around with wariness evident in his eyes. "Why do we need to come here?"

"I've been hankering for a good ale for a while, lad," Copper replied, grinning. "And I have some, er, friends to meet. Another captain. A _sea_ captain, mind you. Headin' out fer the Northern Isle in a day er so. And I owe 'im somethin'."

"Oh, okay."

"Will ye wait here when I get a drink? My friend'll be 'ere soon." Copper didn't wait for a response. He pushed through the crowd of drinkers and headed over to the counter, his companion following. Lloyd and Nya looked at each other. She could tell their thoughts were the same: _This is getting ridiculous. _

* * *

**I really apologize for not going farther than this in the thing with Lloyd, Jay, and Nya. But I can't write any more in this chapter without taking another ten billion weeks to publish, and I feel so bad for making you wait. **

**I just realized I exaggerated heavily twice. I'll give a shout-out in the next chapter's Authors Note to the person who can say (in a review) both exaggerations. **

**Kbye**


	9. Nine

**Alright, I'm back with a very long overdue update! I owe you faithful readers... like five more chapters. I'm off school for the next three days, so I'm going to try and get three more out by the time Tuesday comes around.**

**Dangit, I said this last time there was a four-day weekend and that never happened. I make no promises. **

**Please send me in a box to Master Chen if I don't get at least two chapters out by Monday. I am serious. You can find me at [Insert Address Here]. **

**Anyway, enjoy! Shout-Out and a Cookie to Buttergriffin332 for the two hyperboles! (::) **

* * *

It had taken a whole lot to get Sensei Garmadon out of his monastery and out into the world again. Onto the upgraded Bounty, no less. P.I.X.A.L was pleased with herself. Not just satisfied. No, she was _proud_ of her achievement.

She was acquainting herself with human emotions and terms, so she could be a bit more like the organic lifeforms – no, they were _people_. Not 'lifeforms'. _People_.

But people could die. And they were gone forever when they... _passed_, to use the human expression. P.I.X.A.L closed her..._eyes_, not optical sensors, as she thought about the nurse, Leah, who had fallen and died when the helicopter fell.

P.I.X.A.L and Leah had both landed in the dunes, blown farther away from Jay, Nya, and Lloyd. She had survived the fall, with some damage to her neuro-drive. She was still having blips in her memory and some speech glitches because of the jarring fall. But on the whole, she had been alright.

Leah had not. P.I.X.A.L had laid there in the shifting sands of the desert for a long time, about a day according to Sensei Wu. When she had gotten up to search for the others, she had found her scanners were down, so she had to physically walk around in an attempt to find her friends. She'd found the poor nurse half-buried in the sand. Leah's head had been tilted at a strange angle, and her eyes were staring blankly into the sky, When P.I.X.A.L uncovered her fully, she found that her entire right side below the collarbone had been severely burned, leaving only charred skin and the remnants of her coat. And P.I.X.A.L did not need her scanners to tell that her spine had been broken beyond the repair of any medical droid.

P.I.X.A.L had been able to send out an audio signal via a control panel concealed within her forearm to call headquarters, which was temporarily the Temple of Fortitude. She'd also called Kai and Cole, but neither of them were responding. Sensei Wu had, however, and he'd picked her and Leah's body up in the Bounty near midnight. He said that Kai and Cole hadn't reported in, which was very alarming. They'd gone to the hospital to check some kind of records and hadn't come back yet, leaving Sensei Wu and P.I.X.A.L all by themselves to figure things out. After a while, she'd suggested that they go to Garmadon for help. The old sensei was adamant not to help them fight, not again, but after telling him that Lloyd was missing – possibly abducted – along with Jay and Nya, he'd conceded and agreed to help them.

Now, Garmadon was standing stoically at the bow, manning the giant ballista that was loaded with two massive torpedoes, experimental weaponry Cyrus Borg had designed while under the influence of the Overlord. They could cause terrifying damage and devastation. P.I.X.A.L wanted to laugh at the irony of the situation: the self-proclaimed pacifist was manning a weapon that could level a large town in one shot.

They were flying across the desert now, searching for any sign of their friends, or dragons. Sensei Wu was down in the lower levels, preparing weaponry for the ninja when they found them.

_These dragon warriors are formidable, _she thought as she stood at the wheel of the _Bounty_, staring out into the sea of sand. She pointing the flying ship forward towards the sea, which was beginning to turn from a faint line above the golden expanse of desert into a sheet of blue and gray and white. _They successfully divided the Ninja and forced them to go out on their own. _ P.I.X.A.L shook her head, a gesture that apparently cleared the minds of humans. It did nothing to clear her own neuro-drive, but if it made her appear a bit more organ- _human_, she'd do it. Zane had looked, talked, felt, like a living being, not just an artificial intelligence put into a humanoid body.

P.I.X.A.L glanced at the scanners, set to look for signs of the Ninja. Nya had ingeniously made a way to detect strong elemental signals, using a little of Lloyd's green power and her own devices. P.I.X.A.L could not see the science behind the sensors, but she was grateful for them; they didn't have to scan for lifeforms now, which was a rather broad range compared to Elemental signals.

So far, the signals were faintly pointing near the ocean. There was a strong Green power radiating from that direction, indicated by a green flashing on the giant map in the control center. There was a weak blue sign – Jay's. Seeing the fading blue light was worrying to P.I.X.A.L. Apparently, the weaker the Ninja was, the weaker their power became. Jay must have been hurt very, very badly.

P.I.X.A.L shook her head once again and turned the _Destiny's Bounty_ slightly starboard. One small movement to the rudder could change the course of the entire flight, Sensei Wu had warned her. The elemental signals were emanating from a large dot on the map, a harbor town called Port Temperance.

_Let me see what kind of place this is, _P.I.X.A.L thought as she accessed the Ninjago Archives, a record of everything in the country's history. Being Cyrus Borg's assistant had given her special privileges, such as being able to open the Archive at her own will. She began a search for Port Temperance. She found a listing quickly and began to scan over it. She scowled deeply from what she saw. _I hope Lloyd did not trust anyone in this city. _Port Temperance was a den of pirates and thieves, barely protected by the law. She hoped someone would crack down on them eventually.

P.I.X.A.L pressed a button on the control panel, activating the intercom systems that transmitted down to the main deck and belowdecks. "We are changing course to Port Temperance. Lloyd and Jay's signals are coming from there." P.I.X.A.L could only imagine their reactions to their location.

"Let us find our missing friends," the android thought with determination. Yes, they would reunite everyone. Somehow, they'd be together again.

* * *

Nya was ready to pass out. Or die. Whichever came first. The stench of this horrible tavern was literally going to kill her. She nearly had fainted once or twice, and so had Lloyd. Both of them had tried to talk, but the music and the din of the patrons were so loud they had to shout to get any words across, even though they were standing directly next to each other.

_Come on, come on! _She thought, tapping her foot on the lopsided and somewhat rotting floorboards. She was horrified to find that her foot was tapping to the beat of the music, so she stopped and forced herself to keep her eyes open and to take deep breaths through nose, and to release the air through her mouth. _Getting a drink and meeting up with a friend can't take that long! _

She was leaning up against Lloyd's shoulder, her hair brushing his own. They got some stares from the drinkers, but they went pretty much unnoticed for most of the time. Nya longed to say something, anything, to break the ridiculous tension, but everything was too loud. And she wanted to take as little of that reek into her throat as possible.

Minutes had passed. Nya was going to pass out for real this time. She couldn't take the nauseating smell any longer. Her eyelids were going to close, her mind was darkening -

"Nya," Lloyd murmured into her ear, gently moving away from her. The Samurai nearly fell over, but Lloyd steadied her by grabbing her shoulder. "Copper's here." Nya raised her head and looked up into the mass of people and saw the desert captain pushing his way through, towards them. Nya looked around for his short companion, but the short man was nowhere in sight. _That's weird. _

"Hey! You're still 'ere, friends!" Copper said cheerily as he approached them. "I'd thought ye mighta left 'fore now." Nya straightened up and crossed her arms over her chest, taking an air of annoyance and agitation.

"What took so long to get a drink?" she demanded. "And where's..." she waved her hand in a prompting way. She didn't know the creep's name.

"Shortie? Ah, he went out back."

"Why?"

"Well... er... he had to go, ah, arrange a meeting with a friend," Copper replied after a pause. Nya was not convinced, and neither was Lloyd. The Green Ninja stepped forward.

"Shouldn't he be back at the ship, getting ready to go? You said you were meeting a friend when you left earlier." Nya nodded in agreement, frowning.

"We've detoured enough. I think it's time we head back to Ninjago City." The captain paused, staring at them with narrowed eyes. No, he definitely hadn't expected them to talk to him like they did. _Well, that is a real shame, Captain. _"Well?"

"Er... yes, we should be gettin' back. I apologize fer makin' ye wait a while," Copper said with a little bow, just a dip of the head. "Now, miss, we can be leavin'." Nya rolled her eyes.

"Oh, no, after you," she said coolly. She was really riling up Copper; his ruddy cheeks were becoming a bit more red. With a curt nod, he pushed open the door of the Tankard and headed out onto the pavement, without holding it for Lloyd or Nya.

As soon as they stepped out, they were greeted by a burst of fresh air. The outside breezes were tainted by the smell of fish and alcohol, and had a salty tang from the sea, but to her it was saving grace. She was instantly revived.

Nya looked around, her eyes adjusting to the brighter light, even though the sun was becoming an orange ball of flame towards the west it was brighter than inside of the tavern. She stretched, raising her arms. Then she quickly crossed them over her chest again before anyone could notice. She glanced at Lloyd, who was looking around nervously.

"What is it?" she whispered, leaning in closer to the Green Ninja.

"I don't see Jay anywhere around here," he muttered in reply. "Do you?" Panic filled Nya and her graze flickered around the street, looking for the Lightning Ninja or his Serpentine minder Cobar.

"They were out here when we went in!" Nya hissed, lowering her arms to her side, clenching her fists. "They must have done something."

"Are ye comin' or not?" Copper called from down the road. He was already several yards away, heading closer to the town square.

"Where's Jay?" Lloyd called, not moving an inch. "Or Cobar?"

Copper froze in the middle of the street, then turned around to face them. "Yer friend... he's... not 'ere, I'm afraid."

"What do you mean?" Nya hissed, marching down towards the captain, trembling. For some reason, people were shuffling away from the road and into buildings. She guessed that they saw a fight between a forigner and the captain about to happen, and no one wanted to get involved. "Where are they?" She came face to face with Copper, her narrowed chocolate eyes meeting his own blue ones.

"They're... gone."

"Gone. Where?" she asked, slipping her hand into her belt discreetly. She had one emergency weapon – a tiny little kunai, a knife-like farming tool that Ninja and Samurai sometimes utilized as a weapon, only in dire situations.

"Hopefully, already on the ship that's headin' to'ards the Northern Isle," he said, smirking. "More likely their loadin' him up into a ship."

_No, no, no. This could not be happening. _She dreaded the answer to her next question.

"Who?"

"Dragons, lass," Copper said. "They put a nice price on the Ninja's 'eads. Think about it. I've captured the Green Ninja, the Samurai, and the Blue Ninja. I could get - "

Those were Copper's last words. Nya raised the kunai to the treacherous man's upper thigh, impaling the blade in his leg – the femoral artery. Instantly, blood began to spew from the wound. Copper let out a gasp and stumbled back, clutching at his leg.

"Wha... what 'ave ye done, girl?" he hissed, his eyes wide with pain. She didn't respond; she kicked him in the kneecap, sending him sprawling on the ground. Blood began to soak the man's pants, then spilled onto the ground, staining the dirty cobblestones with a sickly dark red. Nya fought the urge to vomit. _You just killed him. He's dying. Nya, you just killed a man. A human being. _

_ And what makes that different from killing a dragon? _She began to reflect on that, but was rudely interrupted by a flying shuriken. The Samurai ducked, barely saving her head. Quickly, she targeted the point from where the weapon had come from, then saw a dragon emerge from the shadowy alley, holding a scythe in it's right hand, and a shield in his left. It opened it's jaws in a roar – then charged.

Nya's instincts kicked in. Before the dragon reached her, the Samurai leaped to the right and knelt down next to the dying form of Copper. She ripped the kunai from his leg, forcing a loud gasp, which she ignored. Nya dodged yet another attack and got a few seconds of respite as Lloyd shot a ball of green energy at the dragon. She wiped blood from the kunai on her pant leg, shuddering as it ran down to her feet. Her short window of a break closed, and the dragon ran towards her, deflecting another blast from Lloyd with its shield.

"We gotta find Jay and get out of here!" Lloyd yelled, leaping over the dragon to reach Nya. "Come on!" he grabbed her arm, and she slapped his hand away.

"You go! I'll stay here and hold it off," she retorted, throwing her kunai at it with deadly accuracy. It pierced the dragon's upper arm, causing it to snarl and take a moment to rip it out.

"Nuh-uh," Lloyd said stubbornly. "We don't do sacrifices. Not anymore." They stared into each other's eyes, both of their gazes blazing, then they both nodded. They both ran towards the beast, then around it on each side, confusing the apparently simpleminded dragon. They ran as fast as they could towards the direction of the harbor. _If those bastards have Jay already and have set sail, we'll have lost him. _ Motivated by that thought, she soon got ahead of Lloyd and diverted onto another street, towards the north.


	10. Ten

**Nothing to say here besides that there will be action! Fighting, explosions, flashing lights! Actually, maybe just the fighting and maybe one explosion. I think.  
**

* * *

Things had been going pretty bad for Jay up to the point where they'd entered Port Temperance. His head was throbbing, his stomach was making him nauseous, his eyes were blurred with stars and flashes, and his ribs felt like they'd been smashed to bits.

But when they'd gotten into the sleazy town, he'd actually started to feel better. The sea air, he thought, had helped to revive him. He'd have to write a poem about that sometime, the refreshing qualities of the ocean. He'd begun to regain consciousness, and realized that he was being left behind with a snake.

That's when things had gone awry. Instead of just waiting like a nice patient Serpentine, Jay had been promptly carried off towards the docks by the Hypnobri and a short creep, and that's where he saw them – huge, black-and-purple monsters wearing Samurai armor and looking extremely tough. He was waking up, but had no strength or energy to fight back or even call for help. He certainly had struggled a little bit, which was enough to satisfy his honor for the time being.

Things hadn't gone very well from there, either. He'd been loaded onto the ship and put down in the brig, on a less comfortable, smaller stretcher. And left there to wait. He was beginning to regain power, but he was tied up. He wished with all his heart that he wasn't, because if he were free, he could fight for his comfort and get rid of the rats that were staring from corners intently at him, freaking him out. The Lightning Ninja shifted a little in his bonds, scowling as he tried to loosen them a little. The tight, rough robes were giving his wrists serious rope burn.

"Oh, come on, rope! You can loosen up a little, can't you?" Jay muttered as he moved his arms around, then winced as the bonds cut into his wrists more. _This can't be one of these enchanted ropes from movies, can it? The ones that get tighter when the victim struggles more? _He hoped not. He'd be strangled and dead before they set sail if that was the case, because he was a very fidgety person. Eventually, he settled himself to waiting. If there was rope that got tighter if you struggled, then Lloyd and Nya could get here at the last second. "Yeah, just think about it like that," he told himself, laughing a nervous laugh. "It's all just a movie. Movie characters don't usually get killed this early on in the story, right? Ehheheh…" Jay looked around with increasing worry, staring at the wooden walls and the small metal door, waiting for a rescue. _Well, I hope this is early on in the story. _

* * *

Kai let out a loud, unmanly scream as he plummeted down into the army of dragons standing around in the lobby of the hospital. He only had a couple seconds to grab another rapid entry shuriken and toss it somewhere below him and to the right before he smacked face down at high speed onto the marble flooring.

He didn't know how he survived the fall, but he had and his vision was all starry. He had definitely got the wind knocked out of him, that was for sure. He rolled over onto his back, gasping to regain his breath. Somewhere behind his head, the shuriken exploded, causing a cacophony of dragon howls. Kai forced himself to push through the pain and shock and get to his feet. His life was depending on it.

Kai rolled over back onto his stomach and pushed himself up with his arms. In a flash, he had two sais in hand and he was blocking savage blows from very angry dragon warriors. He parried, jabbed, twirled, flipped the weapons around, and eventually let his instincts take over. He spun around in a circle, deflecting blows from all sides.

One particularly short dragon tried coming at him from below, but he was autopilot now. Nothing was getting past his defenses. He dropped his sai and generated a ball of flame in his hands. A warm sensation spread across his body from the fire, and he made a downwards punching motion towards the bite-sized enemy, causing a burst of flames to shoot from his fist. The dragon squeaked in surprise as his scales were scorched. The whole maneuver took three seconds. _I'm liking this! _He thought, pleased with the fire attack, and slipped the other weapon into his gi before he projected fire from both hands. He began to singe and burn every unfortunate dragon in sight.

Cole soon joined him. The Black Ninja leaped down from the railing with more control and grace than Kai had. He was carrying one of the dragon's spears and his own katana. When he landed, it was on top of two of the beast's heads, smashing them to the ground. It cracked the marble heavily,which made lots of the enemy lose their footing.

"This is great!" Kai called over to Cole as he launched into a Spinjitzu tornado to reach his teammate.

"Did you know where the records are?" Cole asked, slicing down a dragon.

"I assume they're at the desk, probably in one of the – erg – computers!" Kai replied, shooting at a big warrior who was charging towards them at an alarming speed. That didn't stop it. "Quick, get out of the way!" the Fire Ninja jumped towards what was probably the main desk, to his left. It was abandoned, and luckily the computer monitors were still on. Kai really didn't want to be hacking into things at a time like this. He began opening files and scanning over names, looking for TRANSPORTATION RECORDS. Most hospitals in Ninjago, apparently, made a list of everything that happened during the day and automatically sent it to the documents. He began to grow increasingly worried when it didn't show up.

"Cole!" he yelled, raising his head from the computer screen. The Black Ninja didn't look away from the battle as he called back.

"Have you found them?"

"No, but – " the monitor made a whirring noise and blacked out. "What?" Kai stared at it was disbelief. Had the stupid thing timed out? He clicked on the mouse and tapped buttons on the keyboard, but nothing was working. Then the screen came back to life again, with the most miraculous thing: today's transport records. It was even scrolled down to the right place – Helicopter Unit 22-45 had arrived at the hospital, called in by an unknown entity at the hospital that seemed to have broken through the firewalls and reached the chopper.

_There's only two people who could possibly do that in this situation. Zane, but he isn't here anymore, so it must have been P.I.X.A.L! _ Excitement coursed through him. He was figuring things out now. The chopper had left the hospital carrying Patient 17, one nurse, two visitors, and one Ninja escort. Kai took a wild guess and said that that was the one he were looking for. Now…

The Red Ninja looked for the flight path. It seemed that - Kai dodged a spear thrown from somewhere in the lobby, jerking his head to the side just in time.

Unfortunately, the spear had been well aimed. Or maybe it hit the wrong target. But it hit the outlet where all of the wires of the computer were hooked up to. Kai couldn't believe with all the wireless technology Ninjago had today, this hospital was still using outlets! The stupid machine shut off instantly, replacing the informative hospital records with blackness. Kai pounded at the screen, his mouth wide open.

"What!? This can't be happening! This is not happening!" he shouted, shaking the monitor with his hands. They were beginning to heat up. He was about to set the whole computer on fire when the screen switched on again.

"Kai, cut it out, please," a vaguely familiar but robotic voice said from the speakers, sounding slightly irritated. He stepped back from the desk, even more shocked than before. _This can't be. No, he's dead. No, it really is – _

"Zane?" Kai asked, his voice a whisper. "Is it…"

"I'm afraid I cannot explain everything now, friend, but right now you need to know this. The helicopter left the hospital and headed out over the desert. It was attacked by a patrol of dragons and fell out of the sky. I lost contact with P.I.X.A.L after it fell, but it seems that they were separated."

"How the heck do you know all this?" Kai demanded, balling his hand into a fist. It was all so much to take in. Zane was alive. Somehow his consciousness was in the computer! Was it just the hospital network, Ninjago City, or was it possible that the Ice Ninja was in the Digiverse, just like the Overlord had been? The entire battle wasn't happening. Kai was absorbed in this impossible conversation like a fly in amber.

"Like I said, I was in contact with P.I.X.A.L. How else was she able to contact a helicopter without having to hack into anything?" Kai rolled his eyes.

"Do you know where anyone else is?"

"No, I do not. But I recommend you hurry up. Cole is not faring well." With that, Zane cut the power again, and Kai was left alone, staring blankly at the screen.

The Dragon's ship was a strangely shaped craft. It was shaped like a box, with a flat bow and a flat stern. The fantail was only slightly raised above the main deck. There seemed to be a giant square building in the center of the main deck, with windows at intervals of a few feet. Smokestacks were rising from the slanted roof, spewing out black clouds as easily as blood had run from Copper's leg… _Oh, no, please, Nya, don't think about that! _To think that the death of that treacherous scavenger had affected her so much. Dragons were milling around the deck, their armor gleaming in the sunset.

She had reached the wharf just in time to see the ship cast off into the harbor. _Jay is somewhere on that ship, _she thought, the sick feeling growing in her stomach. _He's badly injured and lying somewhere on that boat! _

Nya turned around in time to see Lloyd burst out of an alley, panting. "We gotta do something about that dragon, Nya!" he warned her.

"I know, I know!" she snapped, turning sharply on her heel to face the Green Ninja. "But their ship just went out."

"You mean that giant thing right there?" he asked, pointing at the massive thing, his eyes widening.

"That giant thing, yes," Nya replied. Lloyd sighed, frustrated.

"How are we going to get him now?" He asked. It was a rhetorical question, of course. There was no way to get to the fast-moving warship now.

"Well, we'll just have to wait," Nya said, tapping her foot rapidly on the wooden pier.

"There's no time!" Lloyd protested. "Once that dragon gets were, we're dead. We don't have any weapons." Nya's fists clenched even more. If she did so any more, she thought her nails might cut into her palms. _There are no major arteries in hands, right…_ Nya quickly pushed the thoughts away. Those were things she didn't need in her head.

"Then what do you think we should do?" she demanded, looking over his shoulder pensively. Those crashing noises were getting closer, and the echoing snarls and growls too. It send a shiver down her spine; they were fearsome warriors, more so than any Serpentine or Nindroid could be. She'd seen what one of their weapons could do.

"We need to hide somewhere close by, then once it comes out, you attack it and stop it from flying away. Then I'll get the ship's attention."

"And why do we need their attention?"

"Because, hopefully they'll see one of their own in danger and turn the ship towards us, to fire back!" Nya rolled her eyes.

"But then _we'll_ be shot, Lloyd!" she retorted.

"And the ship will stop moving!" Nya was going to deliver another comeback to the ninja, then realized what the strategy he was going to use was. She wouldn't have had time to anyway, because the dragon came barreling out of the dark alleyway, knocking over a few shipping crates that had been stacked up near the exit. It's scythe was draped with fish nets and the shield was wet. The two of them didn't have any time to hide. Nya got into a close-combat fighting stance, and Lloyd began to form a sphere of pure green energy in his hands.

"_Grrag n__ül_!" it roared. "And _Shoguu_!" It came to a halt a few yards before them, swinging it's weapon around in a show of aggression. "Surrender!"

"What's a... grag nool?" Lloyd asked.

"You are a g_rrag n__ül_!" it spat. "And now, you will either surrender what weapons you have, or you surrender your lives!" It took another step forward, shaking the netting off the blade of his scythe.

"How about - " Nya began.

"Neither!" Lloyd finished, whirling around and sending his attack flying towards the stern of the ship. Nya made her move; she leaped into the air and drop-kicked downwards at the dragon warrior. It raised it's shield too late. She was already under it's guard and punching with her balled-up hands. The dragon tried to escape the flurry of fists, but it was too stunned to do anything but drop the shield. Nya pressed her advantage, stepped away, and kicked it in the jaw. She could hear Lloyd firing at the dragon ship. _I have to buy him more time! _The dragon raised it's arm to crush her down with giant talons, exposing something important. A katana was sheathed at it's waist, concealed until now by it's forearm. She reached into it's guard again and drew the surprisingly light blade from it's sheath – and stabbed right into it's bicep as the attack came down. Nya drew it out again, and saw the purple blood coating the blade. She winced, but kept on the attack. She slashed up, down, sideways, all over the thing's body, until Lloyd yelled to _get down_. Without turning to see why, Nya dropped to the ground.

Cannonballs rocketed into the wharf, the pier, and the shore, smashing open wood and sending splinters everywhere. Nya clutched the katana she'd take in both hands as the world around her became nothing but cinders and ashes and smoke. She hoped Lloyd had gotten down. _Of course he did! He would probably follow his own order, right? _

Nya didn't know how long she was crouching down with the sword, waiting for the smoke to subside. It must have been five minutes before the barrage ended, and another ten for the thick, suffocating clouds to disperse enough to stand up and look around.

"Lloyd?" she hissed, looking around, placing the tip of her blade at a chink in the dragon's armor, at the neck. "Lloyd, are you - "

"Get down!" came the Green Ninja's reply. This time she did turn to check out why.

"Why? I don't see anything?"

"Can you hear it? There's something coming this way!" Lloyd snapped. "Drop, now!" Rolling her eyes, Nya crouched down again.

A few seconds later, a loud whirring noise became audible, and the Samurai wondered how Lloyd had detected the noise before she could. She watched as something jutted out onto land from a few feet up in the air. She could see flashing metal through the smoke, and also black flames some yards down the pier, which she assumed came from engines. _Wait, is that a jet, then? Or a helicopter? _She didn't realize that when she had crouched down, she had freed the dragon. It was standing up, dusting off it's armor and groaning slightly. Then it walked unsteadily towards the thing that was resting it's edge on the land. It must have been a gangplank or walkway, like the kind they had on the entrances of Cyrus Borg's security choppers. But it stepped on anyway, hunched over. Then it disappeared, and the walkway slid out of the smoke, and the whirring of engines and rotors began to get louder.

"Lloyd, we have to jump on that thing!" Nya shouted over the noise. "Come on!" She quickly located her friend, grabbed his arm, and dragged the boy to the edge of the pier. It was broken and mashed up, with splinters sticking up in all kinds of places. Nya could see what the vehicle was: a gunship, built somewhat like a helicopter, but it had a troop transport built into the hull. The top was flat, perfect for just lying on top. Nya jumped, and she heard Lloyd grunting as he followed her lead. Excitement coursed through her. They were heading towards the ship, which meant that the were going to reach the Ninja of Lightning soon.

* * *

**Now you guys don't get to send me to Master Chen in a box! Yay. I got two chapters to y'all in by Monday. **

**I want to be at fifty reviews by the time I post chapter eleven! Which means... seven reviews by Friday, and I PROMISE that I WILL have written, edited, and posted the next chapter by then. I think you all can do it! I also got my first piece of constructive criticism in a review on the last chapter! Cookies for everyone! **

**(::) to the power of seventeen thousand point two two two two nine zero one, plus one waffle (#)**


	11. Eleven

**I'm back! Hooray! **

**I am so sorry for not updating for almost... two months?! Geez. I do need a schedule. **

**Another chapter will be up by Wednesday. I'm thinking of posting updates every Thursday? **

**Anyway, enjoy! **

* * *

As soon as Nya and Lloyd had jumped from the splintered harbor, they'd been forced to grab on to the razor edge of the gunship's wing and hold on for dear life. It had been a five-minute shaky ride, but it had felt like forever-and-a-half. The edge was as sharp as a katana. They had sliced her palms right open. Lloyd's hands had been protected, despite the thin material of his gloves.

After that grueling experience, the transport had landed on a landing pad at the bow of the ship. It had taken a rather long time for the Dragons crammed into the hold of the gunship to get out.

Then she and Lloyd had stood up and made a shaky attack. She had jumped from the wing and rammed a warrior down with her feet as she landed; he had incinerated several of them with a powerful energy burst. The Green Ninja then joined her on deck, and they were fighting for their lives.

Nya was in her element again. Dragons were rushing at her and Lloyd, but the two of them were doing a pretty good job at holding them back. _I just hope that we can get out of this and find Jay in time! _Nya ducked as a warrior swung a giant iron flail above her head, then rammed her fist into it's armor plated gut.

Pain shot up her arms, and she stumbled backwards, gasping. She raised her trembling fist and uncurled her fingers, kicking away a few assailants. Crimson blood was rolling from the wide gash, making its way down her arm. She shuddered, then clenched her fist again and started punching at her enemies again. The Samurai dodged several punches from one of the Dragons, then grabbed her wrist and used all her force to drag it forwards and shove it into the crowd advancing at her companion. As she turned back, she made sure that he was okay.

The Green Ninja seemed to be doing better than she was. _Well of course. He's got his elemental power. _He was sending groups of dragons flying, backwards or off the ship, with every swirling orb of green energy. Many unfortunate ones, who were hit directly, got vaporized.

"Lloyd!" she called to him as several dragons flew over the edge, their armor and scales scorched. He didn't turn as he responded.

"What?" he asked. Nya whirled around, avoiding a swinging battle hammer.

"I need you to cover me! I'm going to find – ack! - Jay! He's got to be somewhere in that building!"

"Is it really a building?" Lloyd asked, half-jokingly, as warriors closed in. Too close for his power attacks. He began punching them in their snouts, avoiding the thick armor to preserve his fists.

"Is that important?"

"Not really. How are you going to get there?" As Dragons forced Nya backwards, she realized that she and Lloyd were now back-to-back.

"Oh, I have an idea," she said, dodging a fist. "Can you take all of them?" The Green Ninja let out a laugh.

"You bet. In fact, it'll be easier. I won't have to dodge you," he said, now really joking. She sighed. _Cole, Kai, and Jay have much better witty banter. _

"Just get ready when I give the word!" she yelled. As she defended, she began shifting her focus, trying to stare above the spiky heads of the dragons to see the side of the giant building-thing in the center of the ship. If her plan was going to work, then she needed something to climb onto the roof...

_There. _She spotted a thin gray-colored tube coming down from the roof, probably from one of the massive chimneys. It was probably slick, but she could attempt a climb. It was her only chance. A punch to the jaw from a smaller dragon brought her back to reality. Scowling, she kicked it in the knee, forcing it away. "Get ready!" she told Lloyd over the growling and snarling of the horde.

"Alright... Now?" he asked, preparing to fire a blast at the Dragons as he kicked them away.

"Not yet..."

"Now?"

"No!"

"NOW?!"

"NOW!" Nya leaped up into the air and twirled herself around to face the... _Structure. Lets just call it that. _

When she landed, it was square on the head of a Dragon. It looked up to see what had just happened, but got incinerated by Lloyd as she jumped from head-to-head, staying on one for just a second before passing on. She was moving too quickly for it to register in the minds of the warriors, and there was the more immediate threat of the _graag n__ü__l,_ or whatever they called Ninja, for them to deal with.

Nya was getting closer to her goal with every leap. Soon she was balanced on a dragon right in front of the structure. Both of her feet were on top of its head, and it was frantically trying to look around and possibly shake her off. The metal pole was right in front of her, and the Samurai was trying to figure out how she could climb it. The thing was half-embedded into the wall. Nya reached out her hand to touch it, stamping one of her feet on the Dragon's head to keep it still. "Cooperate, will you?" she muttered. Then she saw the blood stained on the pole, her blood. _No, no, no... don't... oh, dear. _She started feeling nauseous. The sight of the scavenger captain's blood passed through her mind, and she closed her eyes, trying to block it out. Then, with shaking hands, Nya tried reaching out again.

Her hands never touched it. Her eyes blinked open as two rough arms grabbed her shoulders. She was lifted upwards suddenly. Nya didn't have time to think of a response. The large dragon raising her let her drop for a split second, then grabbed her again. She had turned around, and now she was staring right into the narrowed yellow eyes of a dragon.

"What are you doing, eh?" it hissed, spittle flying from the thing's jaws and into her face. She clenched her teeth and said nothing. It let out a strange, guttural bark, and she realized that it was laughing.

"Not talk'tive? Well..." Nya glanced at its wings, flapping as it rose into the air. _Rose into the air... _She tried to suppress a triumphant smirk.

"I'm trying to get in there," she said, jerking her head back to signal the structure. The Dragon rolled its eyes.

"Good luck. That's the brig. We got nearly - "She didn't wait for him to finish, and kicked out at the warrior's shins. It roared as her boot connected with it's scaly leg, and released her from its grip. She grabbed its shoulders, pushed herself up, then flipped onto the Dragon's head.

"'Ey!" it spat, but she had launched herself up. Yep, she'd timed it perfectly. As the dragon ascended into the air, it had given her the perfect opportunity to jump onto the roof, where she'd been trying to get to in the first place.

"Thanks!" she called mockingly as the Dragon shook its head, trying to figure out where she'd gone. Nya landed on the roof in a crouch, then stood up and brushed herself off before starting to run again, into the thick clouds of smoke. Nya held her breath as she assembled a list of priorities. The next challenge, she thought with a scowl, was how to get into the structure. She was starting to feel a little...

_Oh, no. Please, just hold out... _The smoke was heavy on the roof, billowing from the chimneys. There was a chance that she wouldn't make it...

P.I.X.A.L could see Port Temperence without using her scanners; the giant window at the front of the bridge was all she needed now. The large town stretched out to the west and the east, rather than southwards. But that wasn't relevant. She could see in the distance...

_A warship? What is a ship of that size doing so close? Ninjago has no naval force. _It was a large, boxy craft, with black smoke gushing from what she assumed were smokestacks at the top of some large structure in the center. She used her optical zoom function to try to magnify the sight. She could see green flashes every few seconds, and by glancing at the elemental tracking chart, she could see that the green power beacon was definitely strong there. She pressed the intercom control.

"Sensei Wu, I am heading for that warship, about five miles off of the harbor of Port Temperance," she said as she pulled levers and tapped buttons, opening up the weapon systems. "I could use a gunner."

Static crackled before the younger Sensei responded. "I'm coming, P.I.X.A.L. Give me a moment."

"Tell me when I should step in," Garmadon said, an edge in his tone.

"I will alert you when, Sensei Garmadon. Now please, don't get trigger happy and destroy that ship. Your son and Jay are both on it."

"Which means Nya is there as well," Wu said as he stepped into the bridge. "Good. We've found them."

She stopped transmitting through the intercom and began opening up the _Bounty_'s internal comlink to start giving commands without fearing that the entire town could hear her.

"Wu, prepare to fire the bow-turrets. Garmadon, I am shifting the bridge turrets to your control. Please activate them."

"Copy that... Got it."

"Now, do not fire until I give the word. We are approaching Lloyd's position."

Lloyd was getting desperate.

Sure, they were getting closer to reaching the objective: save Jay. But he would really, very much, extremely prefer it if he was alive to see that goal. He was barely stopping the Dragon warriors from gutting him or decapitating him with his energy attacks, and his knuckles were stinging from colliding with metal plating a few more than too many times.

Lloyd needed help, and fast. He got punched in the chest, then shot another burst of green energy. He was tiring, and he felt his power weakening. _This stuff doesn't last forever, _he lamented. He resorted to just punching and slamming the Dragons to the deck. It would slow them down, if nothing else.

"There, I see him! My son!" Garmadon shouted excitedly through the comlink. They were nearing the ship, fast. In just a few seconds they would be on top of it.

"Prepare to fire on my mark," P.I.X.A.L said, narrowing her eyes. "Three...two...one... Open fire. Don't hit Lloyd."

The two brothers began letting loose the cannons on the enemy's deck, gunning down a score of dragons with their first strike. She could see Lloyd, staring up at the ship, pausing his attack to just gape. She smirked. P.I.X.A.L flew the _Bounty_ forward, overshooting the warship, before turning it around again. Garmadon was peppering the hull of the ship with laserfire, scorching holes through the wood.

"Sensei Garmadon, please don't destroy the ship until after we retrieve our friends."

"Sorry, P.I.X.A.L, I got carried away," he replied as he raised his turret's sights to the deck again, sending ten dragons over the side with one shot.

They were right above the ship now. P.I.X.A.L activated the intercom and raised her voice so Lloyd could hear. "Lloyd, please get on board." He complied, doing a backflip as he leaped over the rail and onto the deck of the _Destiny's Bounty_. She lowered her voice to normal again.

"Now, where is Nya?" she asked, raising the ship to avoid a Dragon attack.

"I think she's on the roof of that building thing," the Green Ninja replied, turning to face the bridge. "She was going to rescue Jay." The android frowned slightly and glanced at the power tracker.

"Jay seems to be in that structure," P.I.X.A.L said. "She is on the right track. However, I can't see her. Garmadon?"

"Neither can I. All that smoke is obscuring our sight," the Sensei replied. "We should move in closer."

"Copy that." Very slowly, she pressed one of the joysticks on the control panel forward, causing the _Destiny's Bounty_ to head towards the thick clouds of black smoke. P.I.X.A.L scanned the roof for any sight of Nya's red-clad figure. _Nothing. Wait, wait... Yes! _Before she could relate her news to the rest of the team, one of the computers began beeping. She glanced at Wu, who looked back and shrugged.

"What does that mean?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. It disappeared beneath the shadow of his hat.

"We are experiencing turbulence from the Dragons on the deck down there," she said, before saying through the intercom, "Senseis', please fire on the warship's forward deck. The Dragons are starting to attack us."

Garmadon and Wu both opened up their turrets once more and began shooting. With that taken care off, she started focusing on the next objective: getting Nya.

"Hold on..." she muttered, slowly moving the ship forwards, into the clouds of smoke. The foul black stuff began rolling onto the deck. _Nothing that anyone can do about that, _she thought, although her neuro-drive was telling her that this could become a problem soon.

"Lloyd, we are moving in for the rescue operation. Please get on the roof and retrieve Nya."

"What about Jay?" the Green Ninja demanded.

"Nya is our primary goal, Lloyd. She is in immediate danger."

Static crackled before he replied. "Fine." She looked out the window. The Green Ninja flipped off the deck and onto the smoke-covered roof, lost to her sight.

"I hope Nya is alright," Wu said. "She'll need medical attention." P.I.X.A.L didn't respond. She filed the thought "LOOK FOR SMOKE INHALATION REMEDIES" for later, then returned her focus to rescuing the girl first.

"Has Lloyd got her yet?" she asked.

"I can't see him!" Garmadon replied. "They'd better be - "

Before the Sensei finished, Lloyd leaped onto the deck, Nya in his arms. "Oh, no," she murmured, then pulled the ship back.

"Lloyd, what is wrong with her?" she asked as she pointed the bow towards Port Temperance once more, leaving the warship full of enemies behind.

"I think she fainted or something," he replied, setting her gently down on the deck. "The smoke was too thick. I wouldn't have been able to survive for that long either."

"Please move her into her cabin," P.I.X.A.L instructed. "We need to find her help immediately."

"But... what about Jay?" Lloyd demanded, turning to face the bridge. "That was why she was on the roof in the first place!" P.I.X.A.L scowled, trying to weigh the risks. _Nya is ill from the smoke and requires medical attention. Jay is in the ship. His signal is getting stronger. He is not dead, and chances are... they will not kill him. Not yet. _

"I am sorry, Lloyd. Nya's health is the most important thing right now. We will have another chance to save him."

"What?" The Green Ninja said, raising his voice. "Jay is part of the team! We can't just abandon him! He would insist that we go back and rescue me if I was captured! Or Kai! Or – or Zane." P.I.X.A.L stopped pressing buttons for a moment, then continued, although she noticed that her hand was shaking slightly. Before she could respond, Sensei Wu did.

"Lloyd, P.I.X.A.L is right. We need to regroup. Nya needs to be healed, and we have to find Kai and Cole. If they have not killed Jay yet, they want him for something. Which means that he is still alive."

P.I.X.A.L glanced at him, surprised. She had thought he would side with his nephew on the matter. Jay was one of his students. _Perhaps his words will make Lloyd see that this is the best option. _After another pause, the Green Ninja replied. She could tell that there was anger in his tone.

"Alright, then."

* * *

**Certainly not my best work, I don't think. Editing was a pain.  
**

**Anyway, review! I love getting feedback, be it criticism or praise. **


	12. Twelve

**Okay, 'tis official: updates every Thursday. If an update doesn't happen, please do what the Dragons do to Jay in this Chapter... heheh no please don't. **

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Lloyd paced back and forth the deck of the _Bounty_, hands clasped behind his back. His hair was a mess. His gi was singed. His face was covered with grime and soot. He didn't care one bit. All he felt was guilt. Consuming, flaming, guilt. Night had fallen, and P.I.X.A.L had turned the ship back towards Ninjago City to find Kai and Cole, who had been breaking into Ninjago General to find their location. _But P.I.X.A.L and Dad and Sensei came for us anyway, without waiting. And look where it got us. _

The Green Ninja was burning with shame. His hands were shaking, clenched into fists. He should have insisted that they go back, insisted that P.I.X.A.L was wrong, that she didn't understand, that Zane would have wanted to go back, pull whatever card out that would force her to turn the _Destiny's Bounty_ around to get Jay back from the Dragons. He didn't care that they were keeping him alive; they were probably doing something terrible to him just the same.

_Jay would come back to save me. He has come back to save me; all of the Ninja have. And when he needed us the most – we screwed up. _Well, he couldn't blame himself entirely. Wu and P.I.X.A.L had agreed that Nya's condition was worse.

_Nya would want to go back! _He wanted to scream. He had wanted to avoid the whole love-machine thing, and he'd been pretty good at that. But he did know that Jay was head-over-heels in love with Nya, and she was as well. She was just better at concealing her feelings that the Lightning Ninja. The Samurai would want to turn around and rescue him. Even if she had gone with Cole, she still would have.

Finally, after nearly fifteen minutes of remorseful reflection, he decided it would be best to go check up on Nya, who had been placed in the small medical cabin that they'd built in when the _Bounty_ had been rebuilt. Lloyd headed belowdecks, his arms crossed.

The medical bay was next to the Ninja's room, one of the biggest cabins on board. There were three medical droids stationed inside, plus six beds for patients to sleep on. Nya had been set on the one farthest from the door, and a doctor droid had immediately hooked her up to an artificial breathing system; the smoke had been very, very bad, he had said. Now the doc was up against a wall, its eyes dim as it recharged, ready to jump into action at a seconds notice.

Lloyd sat down on the bed next to Nya's, dejectedly. Besides the transparent breathing mask hooked up by two long cords to a giant white machine in the corner of the room that was attached to her face, the girl looked as if she was peacefully sleeping, curled up near the front of the bed. The Green Ninja sighed as he watched the mask get foggy as she exhaled, then clear up a little as she inhaled. Every so often, small wisps of black were released as she breathed out, then were sucked into one of the two cords.

After a few minutes, Lloyd spoke. "I'm sorry we didn't get Jay back," he murmured softly, half-hoping that she would hear him. "I'm sorry our entire rescue mission... failed." _The crash. That nurse dying. The captain dying. Us nearly dying. That was all for nothing, _he thought, closing his eyes. Their mission had been to find Jay and get him out of whatever predicament he was in, and finally when they'd come so close, they'd botched their chances. Jay was far away now, and the next time they got a chance would be... not for a while.

* * *

When the Dragons had cut the ropes that were holding Jay to the stretcher and walked him away from his cell, he'd been excited. _Elated_. He had lost track of the time while he'd been imprisoned, but it had felt like eternity. He thought they were letting him go, letting him walk around, something decent.

And then... Jay could barely think through the pain. The whip cracked on his bare back, sending excruciating shock through his entire body. They had taken him to the lower levels of the ship, ripped off the top of his gi, and strung him up on some rack thing, which held him uncomfortably in leather shackles by the wrists and ankles. And then they started whipping him. He didn't know why; all he knew was that whatever whip they were using was – what was the word that Sensei Garmadon had once said that one time? Negating, yeah, _negating_ his power. He had tried breaking free, or shocking his torturer by shooting lightning from his fingers. The Dragon had just laughed at his attempts to stop him, and slapped the cord across his hands. Then he'd spun the rack around and began hitting his bare back over and over and over again.

The whip was _scary_. After a blow landed (as if the pain from just the hit wasn't enough) it left an electrical shock that sent pain everywhere for a few seconds, overwhelming his nervous system. Usually he would be able to take a shock in stride, being the Ninja of Lightning, but because it stopped his power, he couldn't. He realized that he was experiencing electricity like a normal human. Or even one of the other Ninja. This was agony. He suddenly felt bad for every single enemy he'd ever used electricity against.  
"Feel that, _graag __nül_?" the Dragon taunted, striking his shoulder-blades. Jay gasped with the pain and instinctively tried to move away. He couldn't. His torturer cackled and hit him again, this time in his lower back. "You know why we're doin' this?"

"Nuh... no," Jay said, his voice barely above a whisper. The whip struck again.

"It was a rhetorical question!" the torturer snapped, cracking the whip. "But I s'pose you'll get an answer anyway." Jay groaned. He didn't care why they were doing this to him; he just wanted it to be over already. _How... how long have I been here? _He thought, closing his eyes. _When are they coming to rescue me? _He hoped that Nya and Lloyd and Kai and Sensei got to him soon. He didn't think he'd last long if they didn't. Well, Cole excluded. He'd be annoyed if it was his rival who -

"'Cause your friends came and attacked our ship!" the Dragon roared, beginning a relentless attack. Jay let out a screamed, then clamped his jaw shut. He started breathing harder, tears flowing because of all the pain. He thought he could feel blood start to ooze from one of the wounds, but he couldn't be sure. One of the blows curled around to the front of his torso, hitting his ribcage. His old wounds began acting up, adding to the onslaught of torment. "And they got away."

"What?" he yelled aloud, earning another few strikes. The dragon laughed.

"They abandoned you, _graag __nül,_" he hissed. "They got your other friends, the green one and the girl, and left."

_They wouldn't, _he thought, more tears rolling down his cheeks, not just from the pain now. They dropped to the floor quietly, unheard. _They – they would come for me! _Was that all the commotion on deck a few hours ago? Lloyd and Nya fighting? Then _escaping_? Leaving him behind to a terrible fate.

"You're lucky that my superiors want you alive!" the torturer laughed. "Or this is where you'd die."

Jay lowered his head, gasping for breath. The agony was overwhelming. _I can't believe it... no, he's lying, he has to be lying... _Then he closed his eyes, the Dragon still whipping him, laughing, and dropped into unconsciousness.

* * *

_Where do they get all these Dragons from? _Kai wondered, running across the rooftop of a parking garage, Cole keeping up beside him. They leaped in unison onto the roof of an apartment complex, always keeping at least a building's distance away from the squadron of Dragons following them. They'd killed or incapacitated a good number of the enemies while in the lobby, but almost fifteen were following them now. They'd come out of nowhere.

After finding out where they'd Jay, Nya, and Lloyd had fallen, they had tried to be stealthy about sneaking out. That had been a bust. So now they were trying to run back to the Temple of Fortitude to contact Sensei and catch a ride on the Bounty. Why he wasn't standing by like he said he was, was beyond Kai; he didn't care much either.

"We're making good time!" Cole said as they leaped the gap between two buildings.

"Yeah!" Kai said, running out of breath. He inhaled before continuing, not breaking his run. "The Temple is just maybe twenty minutes away!"

"We could be deep-fried meat by then," Cole warned as they jumped again.

"Broiled meat. They aren't cooking us in oil."

"Then it's roasting, not broiling," Cole corrected. "Get your cooking terms right."

"At least I can _cook_. You just know the words."

"At least _I_ know something, Fire Dork."

Kai scowled. As they jumped and landed on the roof of some noodle shop, he shoved Cole to the left, making the Earth Ninja stumble before resuming his run, behind Kai. "Last one to the Temple's a rotten Ninja!"

"Oh, you are _on_!" Cole said, sprinting faster.

Kai's estimate of time had been wrong. Twenty-six minutes and thirty seven seconds later, Cole jumped ahead of him from the ledge of a mechanic's shop, landed in a crouch on the lawn of the Temple, ran to the entrance, and dashed up the stairs. Kai grimaced as he followed. "I guess I'm a rotten Ninja, then," he muttered.

The Temple of Fortitude had been definitely changed since they'd fought the Overlord. The inside had been converted into a large command center, a ten-meter wide half-circle of control panels, computers, and communication arrays. As soon as the two Ninja entered, they each ran to a different command console and began trying to raise the _Destiny's Bounty_ on the comlink channel.

"P.I.X.A.L, please come in! P.I.X.A.L, respond!" Cole said into a camera on his computer.

"Sensei, we need you here now! Repeat, we need you here at the Temple now!" Kai yelled frantically. Static crackled on both of the lines. Cole and Kai glanced at each other, shaking their heads. _If we don't reach them now, we're dead, _Kai thought. "Try the long-range comlink," he suggested. The Earth Ninja nodded and ran to the back of the large open room, where a giant comlink system had been set up for emergencies. There wasn't any security guarding the calls made from it, so if someone was listening, the signal could be traced back to the Temple. It was for only dire situations, but Kai was sure that this little problem was rather dire.

"I'll call them. If the Dragons get in, just hold them off until I make contact, okay!" Cole said as he knelt down to start activating the transmitter. Kai nodded, then glanced at one of the monitors hanging from the ceiling. They displayed the area around the Temple, and one of them was showing something not good: the squadron of Dragons was approaching, and they seemed to have reinforcements.

"Uh, hurry this up, Cole! They're coming!"

"This'll take a few minutes, Kai! Just hold them back!"

Biting his lower lip, Kai ran to the doors and locked them, then did the same with any windows. He pulled the shades. Activated the automatic defense systems. Opened up the secure comlink to the _Bounty_, just in case they responded. Then he got ready to fight.

"Open up! Open up!" came the loud, raspy roar a few minutes later. Kai, who was sitting in a swivel chair, his feet up on the console drinking some of Sensei's herbal tea with a shaking hand, jumped to his feet, dropping the cup to the ground. _Oh, no. They're here. _He turned around to face Cole.

"Have you reached them yet!" he demanded. Cole didn't look up.

"This takes a little while to set up if it hasn't been used for a while. Just hold on for a few more minutes. Buy me as much time as you can!"

"Ugh, fine," Kai grumbled as he got jumped over the semi-circle of computers to stand several feet away from the doors in a simple battle stance; his feet apart, his arms hanging at his sides, fists flaming. He scowled as they banged on the door once more.

"Open this up! Now!" the voice said again. Kai didn't answer it. Then he heard, "Bust open this door!" A few sickening seconds later, the sound of several large bodies slamming against the doors echoed around the room, and probably around the surrounding buildings.

It was a minute later before anything happened. The bulky shoulder plate of a warrior bust through the door, sending splinters everywhere. Kai gulped. The door was soon covered in holes, from very angry dragons. Snouts were poking in, and he could see the gleaming of several eyes. Clenching his teeth, Kai shot his first bursts of fire at the Dragons, forcing them all back with yips and snarls...

Aaaaaaaand he realized what a big mistake that was. The fire struck some Dragons, yes, but it also caught the wooden door on fire. The _wooden door_. Timber began falling to the ground, opening up the doorway. A minute or so later, the door was ablaze, falling apart before Kai's eyes.

"I'm an idiot. A big, stupid, Overlord-cursed, idiot," he said to himself.

"What are you _doing_?" Cole yelled from across the room. "You're supposed to be keep them out, not let them in!"

"I know, I know!" he snapped in reply. "I – I know what I'm doing! Have you got a hold of them yet?"

"In a few seconds..." Kai glanced back at Cole; the Earth Ninja plugged in a set of headphones into the machine and pulled the speakers over his ears. Ten seconds. Fifteen seconds. Twenty seconds...

"Got it!"

Kai sighed with relief, then turned back to his own problems: the approaching dragons. Apparently they weren't as afraid of fire as he thought. They were pushing against the remains of the flaming door, shoving the wooden beams over.

The door finally fell apart under the strain, and the first two dragons jumped in, snarling. Before Kai could react, they opened their mouths and spewed fire. He yelped, and instead of standing to fight, he ran to the left, the flames in his fist extinguishing.

"What am I doing?" he muttered aloud, then stood up and shot at the dragons from the side. His flames seemed to be absorbed by his armor. They glanced at him, and fired again. He ran to the left, allowing the corner of the Temple to start flaming. _Oh no. _He had to stop their fire, not just run from it. Otherwise, they'd probably have the building collapsing around them in a few minutes. He shot more flames.

"Cole! What are they saying?" he asked nervously. He turned back to the Dragon vanguard attacking him. They were average height, but dressed in heavy steel armor. Both of them were carrying short swords. And they were advancing towards him, quickly. He raised his fists. _My fire isn't affecting them! Their scales must be resistant! Or, at least their armor. _One of the enemies laughed.

"Fire Ninja. The most useless of all of 'em," it sneered before raising the sword clamped in its right fist to come down with a strong downwards blow. Grunting, Kai punched him in its protruding jaw, sending it a few steps back. It snarled, then punched him all the way back into the right wall. His head banged against the wood. Kai groaned. There would be a bruise there soon.

"This one's got a little fight," the other Dragon huffed, then stopped and turned around. "Burn this place to the grou – " Cole jumped in from nowhere, drop-kicking the dragon to the ground. It writhed in pain for a second, then stilled, completely out. Then he rammed his fist into the stomach plate of the other Dragon, who had turned and stared in shock at the Ninja. It crumpled, completely winded. Kai stood up in a daze.

"Wha... where are they?"

Cole scowed. "They went looking for them without us. There's no time to explain, just follow me. The Bounty's a few blocks away. Borg is locking down the city, so the fighting is just over here. We need to go, now." Nodding, Kai stood up, staring bleakly at the crowd of Dragons swarming the command center. They were too distracted by the task of burning everything down to really notice them.

"How do we get to the door?" the Fire Ninja asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "There are too many of 'em over there."

The scowl on Cole's face turned to a smile. He raised his fist. "We don't need a door." Kai backed away, eyes widening. Then Cole punched through the wall, opening up a person-sized hole in the wall. "Come on!" He jumped through, Kai following. They ran across the grass, over the sidewalk, and into the darkened city, turning down a few streets before the Temple was out of sight. Cole stopped and glanced around. Kai did as well; they were on Sakura Avenue.

"Where'd they say the _Bounty_ was waiting?" he asked the Earth Ninja.

"They said that they were on Cyrus Street... There they are!" Cole pointed upwards, excitement evident in his voice for the first time in a while. Kai followed his friend's finger to where it was pointing, and almost started jumping around, screaming for joy. Almost.

It was the Destiny's Bounty, holding position a little way down the wide, empty street. It's anchor was down, probably only a few inches above the ground. In an instant, the two companions started running. No racing, no competition, just pure relief.

This time, Kai reached their destination first. He jumped onto the giant anchor, then began climbing up the chain. Cole follow. "Hey, guys! We're here!" he called up to the deck. "Guys?" He reached the top and flipped onto the level wooden surface. He scanned the area, and grinned when he saw the Green Ninja standing in the middle of the deck, arms crossed. His face was covered with dirt, as well as his pale hair. He was grinning, almost ruefully. Kai didn't take much notice of it; he just threw his arms around his friend, sighing. "Hey, kid," he said, eventually releasing his green-clad friend. Lloyd smiled.

"Hey. Cole!" he said, sharing a fist-bump with the Earth Ninja. He then stood a little behind Kai.

"It's been almost a day since we last saw you," Kai said "Boy, you have no idea what we just had to..." His voice trailed away. After greeting his friends, Lloyd's face had gone from a big grin to a serious frown. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, uh, you'll find out," he replied. "Come on, let's just get you to our quarters. You guys look like you could do with some rest."

"Yeah," Cole said as Lloyd led them belowdecks in silence. _Something is seriously wrong, _Kai thought, frowning as he walked down the short flight of stairs. Despite growing up and facing almost two years of combat alongside the Ninja, Lloyd still had a little boyishness in him; he usually greeted his friends with the same enthusiasm as the little punk who'd tried to rescue them from the Serpentine tomb, when they'd been trying to steal three of the Fang Blades. This time, he was completely stoic.

Lloyd opened the door to their room, and the two Ninja pushed their way in with a drowsy 'thanks' to the Green Ninja. Kai fell onto his bunk, closing his eyes. He didn't even bother to change into anything else. Whatever was wrong, he was home.

Troubles could wait until morning.

* * *

**Torture. Fun to write, maybe fun to read, certainly terrible to go through. **

**I'm beginning to hate writing from Kai's POV. I can't do it. Lloyd's is fun, though.**

**Please review! Favorite! Follow! Mostly review. I love seeing what you guys say.**


	13. Thirteen

Kloseu missed the light. He missed the soft glow of the morning sunrise, the harsh golden star that shone down by day, and the fiery orange that lowered behind the Southern Seas at night. He even missed the flaming lanterns that had once shone everywhere in the fortress. In the frigid air of the north, light had symbolized – and was – warmth.

But now the Warlord ruled, and the Warlord loved the dark. As the Chief Commander trudged through the blackened stone-floored corridor, his clawed hands clasped behind his back, he lamented the fact that he couldn't even put up one lantern even in his quarters. As leader of the Army, he was to be a prime example.

A few days after the Warlord had ousted control from the Varnarch, he had called a council of all his generals; the senators and delegates had all been imprisoned or killed. He had ordered that there be no more lights; artificial lights, anyway. He said that he'd received an omen from the "Priests": that Light would arrive soon and destroy the nation. Kloseu snorted just thinking about it. _Omens. Days and days of figuring out how to take advantage of our people, more like it, _he thought. He wished he could speak out against the Warlord, but he couldn't. His loyalty was to the royalty, and the current ruler was the Warlord. He had no authority to speak out. The Chief Commander couldn't ask any questions, disagree with his superiors, or even think any thoughts that might be rebellious. He'd disobeyed the last command over a thousand times, he thought with a rueful smirk crossing his snout.

_But why? _He thought, glancing around. He was glad he had decent nightsight. At night, the fortresses and towns were completely darkened. Some of his men were blind as eytherfish in the black. _Why do we need all this darkness? _If there was some kind of light coming to destroy them, it was probably a metaphorical light. Figurative. Shaking his head, he continued,wishing some light would penetrate this dark.

* * *

The first thing Nya felt when she opened her eyes was pain. It wasn't unbearable; in fact, it wasn't so much pain a restricting tightness in her chest. It was certainly panic-inducing, though. Her breathing started to get quicker as her body tried to take in more air, resulting in a loud, throat-hurting cough. Then she realized that the lower half over her face was covered in a transparent plastic breathing mask. She sat up suddenly, her eyes blurry for a few heartbeats before they cleared up. She swung her head from side to side, trying to figure out where she was. Last she remembered, she had been trying to breath through the noxious black smoke churning from the smokestacks of the Dragon warship, desperate to find an opening...

She groaned, lying back down. She was in a relatively comfortable bed, her head resting on a bright white fluffy pillow. The walls around her, the medical tools, the droids stationed at intervals around the cabin... Nya was back in the _Destiny's Bounty_. Safe. _Is Jay here? _She wondered. She must have fainted before she could complete her mission. Hopefully Lloyd, and Pixal, Kai, Cole, whoever had rescued them, had found him as well.

_There's no reason why they shouldn't have known that he was there, _she reasoned, closing her eyes once more. They were starting to hurt under the bright glare of the ceiling lights. _We have the elemental scanners. _As long as he was alive, they should have been able to find his beacon. This train of thought still racing through her mind, Nya fell back to sleep.

* * *

"Hey, Nya."

The soft voice interrupted her dreamless slumber. "Nya, are you awake?" With a sigh, she slowly opened her eyes and sat up. The samurai turned over in her bed, and saw who had waked her: Lloyd. The boy was sitting on the edge of the bed to her left, his lands in his lap and his head down. She smiled a little bit. She'd been alone in the medical bay for a while, it seemed; it was good to see a friend.

"What time is it? How long have I - "

"Its 4:15," he replied, his tone blank. "You've been in here for four days." She sighed again, sitting up. _It _has_ been a while. _ She realized with annoyance that the oxygen mask was still on her face, muffling her voice. She pulled at it, and found that it was connected to an elastic strap, which was pulled on around the back of her neck. Scowling, she pulled it off and inhaled fresh air. She ran a hand through her messy hair.

"Did we – did we succeed?" she asked hopefully. Lloyd looked up, and her face fell. His eyes were brimming with exhaustion and sadness.

"Pixal and Sensei insisted that your condition was too critical, and that we needed to get Kai and Cole," he told her quietly, putting up his booted feet on the edge of her bed.

"I couldn't have been that bad!" she said, her voice raising in pitch. _No, no, no. _"They could have gone in and grabbed him! With the _Bounty_ it shouldn't have taken that long - "

"I tried reasoning with Pixal," he cut in, lowering his eyes to the ground again. "But she insisted. And now..."

"Is there any way we can get to him now?" Still facing the wooden floor of the cabin, Lloyd shook his head.

"We lost his signal. He's out of Ninjago's range. We'd have to cross the Northern Ocean if we wanted to get at him, and Pixal says that the _Bounty_ won't be able to make the journey." Nya crossed her arms angrily.

"We've crossed the entirety of Ninjago before! A bunch of times!" she protested. "How wide is the ocean?"

"About twice that distance," the Green Ninja told her. "And there's no place to refuel in the middle of the sea. We... can't go right away, Nya. Jay's gone for now." Her jaw dropped, anger and frustration welling up inside her.

"We're not even going to try?" she asked, incredulous. "Not at all? He could be dying, and we're sitting here! I can't believe that we'd abandon one of the team like that!" She kicked the side of the bed Lloyd was sitting on, then stood up. Too fast. As soon as she rose, she stumbled forward. Lloyd jumped and caught her by the shoulders, steadying her. She pulled away, hurt.

"Look, I tried!" he said, some feeling entering his voice for the first time in the conversation. "They didn't listen to me."

"Maybe Pixal will listen to _me_," she muttered, and stormed away from the bed, Lloyd, the cabin, the entire lower level of the _Bounty_. She stomped up the steps to the deck, greeted by the sight of Kai and Cole sparring in the center of the main deck, and bright noonday sunlight above Scatter Canyons, a few miles away from the city of Ouroboros . They were both holding katanas, circling each other with their masks up.

Her brother saw her first. "Nya!" he gasped loudly. Cole spun around, obviously surprised, giving Kai an opportunity to strike. He jabbed the Earth Ninja in his calves, making him trip forward. Cole turned around again, annoyed.

"Hey!" he growled, grabbing for his companion. Kai chuckled, darting out of his reach, sprinting towards Nya. He stopped just short of his sister. She raised a brow and grinned, despite her anger.

"You – you're better!" Kai said, dropping his sword to wrap his arms around her in a tight hug.

"Yeah," she replied. She looked at Cole for a moment. He looked back, hesitant to move in to do the same. His eyes were cast down to the ground, like Lloyd. _Poor guy, _she thought, looking him up and down. Steeling herself up, she took a step forward and gave him a hug. Her head rested on his chest momentarily. Obviously stunned, he couldn't return the gesture before she pulled away quickly, biting her lower lip.

"So, how have you guys been?" she asked, looking from her brother to her... teammate. Yeah. Cole was her teammate. Until she could figure the whole mess out. When she'd been with Jay, she had been certain that she wanted to be with him, not his black haired, handsome best friend – _Oh my God, Nya! _She said, burning up inside. _I thought you got over this! _

"Well, we've been fine," Kai replied. Cole kept his mouth shut, his lips in a thin line. "Lloyd's been beating himself up over messing up the whole Jay rescue - " he paused when she cringed, then continued. "But I don't think that it's a big deal. We'll go find him in a few weeks or so. We have to do a few mods to the ship, but now that you're here, it'll be fine. Cyrus Borg is willing to donate whatever parts we need to upgrade the _Bounty_. I think we'll be good in what, a month?" Kai's enthusiasm lifted her spirits, although only a little.

"Jay might not have a month," Cole replied, his brows furrowing. "We should get planning. Come on, Kai. Nya? You want to come with?" he asked. She stepped back. "I'd love to, but I want to, er, say hello to Pixal," she told them. "Where are you going to be?"

"Our quarters," Cole replied. "If you want, go there when you're ready. We could use your help." She nodded, then turned and headed up the stairs to bridge.

Pixal was the only one in the large control room when Nya entered. The android was working at the main control panel diligently, occasionally glancing up at the large square monitors hanging from the ceiling, each one at a different angle.

"Hi," Nya said, leaning against a large rectangular meeting table that they'd installed when the ship was rebuilt. It had certainly been useful; the entire team could gather there for whatever reason comfortably. Jay, Kai, Cole and Lloyd had even made space for Zane, despite his death. It was kind of a memorial, although Pixal, surprisingly, had been against it. She spoke of the fallen Nindroid as if he was missing, not dead. _Yeah, Pixal. You of all people should know how it is to lose your boyfriend. _

_So why did you leave Jay behind, huh? _

"Hello, Nya," Pixal said, not looking up from her work. There was a rather awkward pause before either of them spoke again. "Its good to see you up and well," she spoke after a while, still not stopping whatever she was doing. The Samurai rolled her eyes.

"Is there any reason why we're anchored above Scatter Canyons?"

"It was a convenient place to stop. According to the medical units, the movement of the ship was disturbing your rest." Nya raised an eyebrow. She had slept fine, she'd thought. She'd woken only once or twice, and it certainly wasn't because she was disturbed by the _Bounty'_s motion.

"Well, thanks, I guess," she replied flatly. Another awkward pause. _Does she even know how mad I am at her? _She wondered, exasperated. Probably not. Pixal kept working obliviously at her task, not taking her eyes off it once. Finally, Nya gave up trying to be subtle.

"Pixal, why didn't you rescue Jay? Not even try?" she blurted out, less tactfully than she had wished. This time, her question made the android stop pressing buttons and turn her head slightly to the side. Silence.

"Because we could not," she said icily, after yet another pause. "Is that a good answer? Now, can you please allow me to complete my work? I am trying to recalibrate the scanning and display scopes." Pixal returned to her assignment with renewed fervor. Nya's eyes flared up. Controlling her anger, she turned around and walked out of the bridge, her fists clenched at her sides. She brushed past Garmadon as he headed for the doors. The older Sensei seemed to tell that she was outraged, and tried to speak to her, but she quickened her pace to get away; she didn't want a lecture or proverbs or to be told that she was overreacting right now, all things he might say to her.

The Samurai wanted to get off the ship, back to her lair, where she could tinker with her mech or whatever else she had lying around. Or maybe they could go to Ninjago City to pick up the parts they needed to upgrade the _Bounty_. As she headed down belowdecks to her quarters/workshop, a checklist ran through her mind, taking it off of her annoyance with the obstinate android working on the bridge.

_We'll need the highest grade thrusters, _she thought. _Electrical would be best. _She pushed through the door of her room and locked it, wanting some peace and quiet while she drew up a design for the engines. Something that looked good but worked well. Nya pulled a few sheets of graph paper from a stack that lay on her desk, as well as a mechanical pencil. She got a spinny chair and sat down, beginning to formulate specs and plans in her head before starting to sketch it out on paper. Everything was so much easier when it could be measured or calculated. _Easier, but not always good. _There were some which she preferred to accept without trying to simplify them into mathematical terms. However, building was perfect for simplifying. For the next few hours, Nya sat alone in her room, scrapping and restarting ideas.

_The thrusters have to be electrical, so we need a power source on board. And they'll have to be able to survive the cold. _The north was most likely cold, regardless if it had any snow. Most likely, it did. The hull would also have to be reinforced with... She had no idea what could stand up to frost. She pulled out a book, one she'd written herself. Well, it wasn't really a book. It was more like a reference guide, to all sorts of materials, parts, and inventions other people had made. Ever since she'd become Samurai X, she'd begun compiling her perfect Inventors Guide.

She flipped through the pages of the binder, skimming through each page for the words 'winter', 'cold', 'snow' or 'frost'. The first hundred or so pages had nothing, mostly just listing tools and equipment. Fifty pages later, she found what she was looking for: chillsteel.

It was a naturally-occurring metal that was found in the northern mountains of Ninjago. It wasn't all that expensive, and was fairly easy to find. Nya smiled, triumphant. It was lightweight, durable (especially in cold climates), and hard to heat. It would be difficult to shape it into armor plates for the _Bounty_, but against Dragon-fire, it was perfect. _Now, all I have to do is tell the guys, and buy this stuff in bulk. _Scribbled down in her notes, it said that chillsteel could be found in especially high quantities in the villages of Shiyom and Kesirean. Pushing away from her desk, she went to go find the Ninja in their room down the hall.

Kai, Cole, and Lloyd were sitting around a low table, talking loudly. All three of them looked up when she pushed open the door and stepped in. Lloyd quickly looked down at the table, but her brother and Cole were in good moods. "Hi," Kai said, waving her over with one hand. A pen was in his other. "We're working on strategy to get on board that ship. They can't have made it all the way back to wherever they came from quite yet." She nodded, leaning on the doorpost. "What have you been working on?" her brother asked when she didn't say anything.

"Oh, you know. Design specs. I'm working on upgrading the Bounty for the mission," she said. The Fire Ninja grinned wider.

"Great! Can we see them?"

"Er, later. I want to refine them a little," she said, coming to sit down next to him. "But I think we're good to go." All three Ninja nodded with approval. She sighed, feeling resigned. _The only problem now is the money. Borg will give us the engines for free, and refine the chillsteel, but we have to get enough of it first. _

Cole picked up on her emotions. "What's wrong?" he asked. She shook her head.

"Nothing. I'll just go tell Pixal that we should set course for Ninjago City," she replied. "We need rechargeable electrical engines if we want to make it across the ocean." She stood up again and left the room, heading for the bridge. "Great," she muttered to herself. "I have to deal with Pixal again."

The android was on the bridge when Nya arrived, but Sensei Garmadon was as well. He greeted her warmly, then inquired into what was happening. She told him the plan, ignoring Pixal, and he obliged, announcing to the ship's passengers that they were turning their bow towards the City. The droid didn't comment. Then she'd returned to her cabin to look over her plans. _Don't worry, Jay, _she thought as she scribbled down notes in the margins of her paper. _We'll be there soon. _

* * *

Being trapped in the Digiverse had given Zane unlimited capabilities: he could tap into most databases, listen to anything he felt like eavesdropping on, or take over whatever digital technology connected to the power grid. Ninjago City was a digital wonderland, giving him ultimate freedom.

And... he didn't want it. More than anything, he wanted to have a body again, to be able to traverse the country instead of just watching it. He hated only listening to people – especially his friends – and not be able to give his input. Firewalls and anti-spyware prevented him from interaction; antivirus programs treated him as if he was a virus. He was able to communicate with Pixal only because she was in Cyrus Borg's network as well. Zane was buried deep within it, meaning that he had could only speak to her for limited periods of time before getting lost under mountains of code trying to write his foreign entity out of the system. Borg had installed extremely effective firewalls to keep Artificial Intelligences like the Overlord from infecting the system, forcing Zane to remain tied to the deepest realms of the Digiverse.

However, there was one advantage to his predicament: he could indirectly help out his team. Pixal had relayed a request from Nya to him: electrically-powered jet engines to get them across the Northern Ocean, to where the Dragon warriors had come from. _Simple, _he thought as he began rewriting several strands of code that protected the assembly line. Over the course of three or so weeks, he'd become accustomed to temporarily letting himself in to the more protected areas of the Borg Industry network, doing whatever he wanted or needed to do, then slipping out before the firewalls automatically fell back into place. Zane finished his rewrites and slid into the network, breaking in to the construction arm's programming to take control.

In a few minutes, he _was_ the assembly line. He could move whatever he wanted at will, chose whatever parts and lift them onto the conveyor belts, and do what his team needed him to do. He sighed. Or, thought about sighing. All he was now was a bunch algorithms, codes, and a disembodied voice when he was speaking to someone through speakers, and the construction arms had none. _I wish that I could create myself a body. But Borg doesn't have a power source that will work for me. _He could get into whatever network he wanted to, and nothing he'd looked at had the correct substance used for his power. Pixal had offered to give back the half he'd given her. He had refused.

_There has to be something. Something out there that I can use to get my body back. Then I can really assist them. _

* * *

***Sighs* I'm starting to want a Beta. I'm becoming dissatisfied with my editing skills, and action sequences. I don't like how I've written the recent chapters I wrote. So... Maybe? What do you all think? Do you like what I've been writing lately? PLEASE BE AS HONEST AND BLUNT AS NECESSARY.**

**I'm finding that I like writing Zane's POV. I can use bigger words that Jay and Lloyd and Nya wouldn't. The only downside is that I can't use him much until later on.  
**

**His stupid pirate voice _is_ an improvement, Jay! Oh my gosh, Episode 49. Too bad he lost it in the next episode.  
**


	14. AN: An Apology

**WELL IT'S BEEN WAY TOO LONG, HASN'T IT?**

**Yes it has. And I have a few excuses, but mostly regrets. I'm not going into detail, just giving you all the gist of what's been happening. **

**My first thing, is that I'm sorry. I haven't updated in _months. _It's dumb, and I'm sorry. **

**Okay, so reasons: **

**Firstly, I just lost all inspiration for this story. It just left me. The whole love-triangle thing isn't relevant anymore, I didn't know where to go with it... I had severe writer's block. **

**Then, got distracted because of preparing for school and all that junk. I'm being homeschooled, so it took some time to adjust from an establishment to being at home. **

**And THEN, I GOT LOCKED OUT OF MY ACCOUNT. **

**I changed the password a while ago, and I didn't remember that I did. So spent a while trying to get back in, to hack the system, etc, then gave up. **

**Finally, _today_ I found an old notebook where I'd written things down and found it. And now I'm back. :/**

**My goal is to get another chapter out by the end of the month, then go on a weekly schedule. **

**I'd love it if you all – if anyone is still reading this thing – could forgive me. I'll make it up to you with new chapters every week. **

**Signing off, **

**-NoL. **


	15. Hiatus Announcement

Alright, I'm sorry, but I really can't finish this. Right now, at least.

It's been almost a year, erg, but I can't. Three entire seasons of the show have come and gone and this has been stagnant, with only twelve chapters. And it's sort of irrelevant now; Rebooted's last plot lines have been totally resolved with the conclusion of Skybound, and one of this story's major points, the love triangle, is pointless now that Jay and Nya are happily together again (yay!)

And other than that, the story had poor planning on my part. I honestly didn't know where I was going when I started this, and I still don't have a good idea now. I really shouldn't have published when I didn't know fully what I was doing and where I was going. I'm sorry for that.

BUT ON A HAPPIER NOTE FOR MY AWESOME READERS:

I have a new story that will be released by the end of June, hopefully before then. It's (in my opinion) much better than this one; I have a whole outline done and I'm beginning to finish up the first few chapters. Once I've finished with a few I'll begin to post.

I'm really sorry for having to cancel this, but I don't want to just leave everyone hanging without any explanation.

Keep a lookout for my new story, though! I'm really looking forward to it, and I'm sure you'll like it.


End file.
